A.    E.    GRIMKE'S 


CATHARINE  E.  BEECHER. 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


LETTERS 


IN   REPLY   TO 


AN    ESSAY    ON  SLAVERY  AND  ABOLITIONISM, 


ADDRESSED    TO 


A.    E.    GRIMKE. 


REVISED     BY     THE      AUTHOR 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  BY  ISAAC  KNAPP, 

25,   CORNHIJLL. 
Ib38. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1838, 

by  ISAAC  KVAPP, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


• 


LETTER  I. 

FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  OF  ABOLITIONISTS. 

BROOKLINE,  MASS.  6  month,  12tk,  1837. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :  Thy  book  has  appeared  just  at 
a  time,  when,  from  the  nature  of  my  engagements,  it 
will  be  impossible  for  me  to  give  it  that  attention 
which  so  weighty  a  subject  demands.  Incessantly  oc 
cupied  in  prosecuting  a  mission,  the  responsibilities  of 
which  task  all  my  powers,  I  can  reply  to  it  only  by 
desultory  letters,  thrown  from  my  pen  as  I  travel  from 
place  to  place.  I  prefer  this  mode  to  that  of  taking 
as  long  a  time  to  answer  it,  as  thou  didst  to  determine 
upon  the  best  method  by  which  to  counteract  the  ef 
fect  of  my  testimony  at  the  north — which,  as  the  pre 
face  of  thy  book  informs  me,  was  thy  main  design. 

Thou  thinkest  I  have  not  been  '  sufficiently  informed 
in  regard  to  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  Christian  fe 
males  at  the  North '  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ;  for  that 
in  fact  they  hold  the  same  principles  with  Abolition 
ists,  although  they  condemn  their  measures.  Wilt 
thou  permit  me  to  receive  their  principles  from  thy 
pen  ?  Thus  instructed,  however  misinformed  I  may 


4  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE 

heretofore  have  been,  I  can  hardly  fail  of  attaining  to 
accurate  knowledge.  Let  us  examine  them,  to  see 
how  far  they  correspond  with  the  principles  held  by 
Abolitionists. 

The  great  fundamental  principle  of  Abolitionists  is, 
that  man  cannot  rightfully  hold  his  fellow  man  as  pro 
perty.  Therefore,  we  affirm,  that  every  slaveholder  is 
a  man-stealer.  We  do  so,  for  the  following  reasons  : 
to  steal  a  man  is  to  rob  him  of  himself.  It  matters  not 
whether  this  be  done  in  Guinea,  or  Carolina ;  a  man 
is  a  man,  and  as  a  man  he  has  inalienable  rights, 
among  which  is  the  right  to  personal  liberty.  Now  if 
every  man  has  mY  inalienable  right  to  personal  liberty, 
it  follows;  that  he  cannot  rightfully  be  reduced  to  sla 
very.  But  1  finrl  in  ihose  United  States,  2,250,000 
men,  women  and  children,  robbed  of  that  to  which 
they  have  HII  inalienable  right.  How  comes  this  to 
pass  ?  Where  millions  are  plundered,  are  there  no 
plunderers  ?  If,  then,  the  slaves  have  been  robbed  of 
their  liberty,  ivho  has  robbed  them  ?  Not  the  man 
who  stole  their  forefathers  from  Africa,  but  he  who 
now  holds  them  in  bondage;  no  matter  how  they  came 
into  his  possession,  whether  he  inherited  them,  or 
bought  them,  or  seized  them  at  their  birth  on  his  own 
plantation.  The  only  difference  I  can  see  between 
the  original  man-stealer,  who  caught  the  African  in 
his  native  country,  and  the  American  slaveholder,  is, 
that  the  former  committed  one  act  of  robbery,  while  the 
other  perpetrates  the  same  crime  continually.  Slave- 
holding  is  the  perpetrating  of  acts,  all  of  the  same  kind, 
in  a  series,  the  first  of  which  is  technically  called  man- 
stealing.  The  first  act  robbed  the  man  of  himself; 


OF  ABOLITIONISTS. 


5 


and  the  same  state  of  mind  that  prompted  that  act, 
keeps  up  the  series,  having  taken  his  all  from  him :  it 
keeps  his  all  from  him,  not  only  refusing  to  restore, 
but  still  robbing  him  of  all  he  gets,  and  as  fast  as  he 
gets  it.  Slaveholding,  then,  is  the  constant  or  habit' 
ual  perpetration  of  the  act  of  man-stealing.  To  make 
a  slave  is  man-stealing — the  ACT  itself- — to  hold  him 
such  is  man-stealing — the  habit,  ihetpermanent  state, 
made  up  of  individual  acts.  In  other  words — to  be 
gin  to  hold  a  slave  is  man-stealing — to  keep  on  holding 
him  is  merely  a  repetition  of  the  first  act — a  doing 
the  same  identical  thing  all  the  time.  A  series  of  the 
same  acts  continued  for  a  length  of  time  is  a  habit — a 
permanent  state.  And  ihe  first  of  this  series  of  the 
same  acts  that  make  up  this  habit  or  state  is  just  like 
all  the  rest. 

If  every  slave  has  a  right  to  freedom,  then  surely 
the  man  who  withholds  that  right  from  him  to-day  is 
a  man-stealer,  though  he  may  not  be  the  first  person 
who  has  robbed  him  of  it.  Hence  we  find  that  Wes 
ley  says — '  Nlen-buyers  are  exactly  on  a  level  with 
meu-stealers.'  And  again — '  Much  less  is  it  possible 
that  any  child  of  man  should  ever  be  born  a  slave.* 
Hear  also  Jonathan  Edwards — '  To  hold  a  man  in  a 
state  of  slavery,  is  to  be  every  day  guilty  of  robbing 
him  of  his  liberty,  or  of  man-stealing.'1  And  Groti- 
us  says — '  Those  are  men-stealers  who  abduct,  keep, 
sell  or  bay  slaves  or  freemen.' 

If  thou  meanest  merely  that  acts  of  that  same  nature, 
but  differently  located  in  a  series,  are  designated  by 
different  terms,  thus  pointing  out  their  different  rela 
tive  positions,  then  thy  argument  concedes  what  wo 
1* 


6  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE 

affirm, — the  identity  in  the  nature  of  the  acts,  and 
thus  it  dwindles  to  a  mere  philological  criticism,  or 
rather  a  mere  play  upon  words. 

These  are  Abolition  sentiments  on  the  subject  of 
slaveholding ;  and  although  our  principles  are  univer 
sally  held  by  our  opposers  at  the  North,  yet  I  am  told 
on  the  44th  page  of  thy  book,  that  '  the  word  man- 
stealer  has  one  peculiar  signification,  and  is  no  more 
synonymous  with  slaveholder  than  it  is  with  sheep- 
stealer.'  I  must  acknowledge,  thou  hast  only  confirm 
ed  my  opinion  of  the  difference  which  I  had  believed 
to  exist  between  Abolitionists  and  their  opponents. 
As  well  might  Saul  have  declared,  that  he  held  simi 
lar  views  with  Stephen,  when  he  stood  by  and  kept 
the  raiment  of  those  who  slew  him. 

I  know  that  a  broad  line  of  distinction  is  drawn  be 
tween  our  principles  and  our  measures,  by  those  who 
are  anxious  to  '  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil ' — very 
desirous  of  retaining  the  fair  character  of  enemies  to 
slavery.  Now,  our  measures  are  simply  the  carrying 
out  of  our  principles;  and  we  find,  that  just  in  pro 
portion  as  individuals  embrace  our  principles,  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  they  cease  to  cavil  at  our  measures.  Ger- 
rit  Smith  is  a  striking  illustration  of  this.  Who  cav 
illed  more  at  Anti-Slavery  measures^  and  who  more 
ready  now  to  acknowledge  his  former  blindness  ?  Real 
Abolitionists  know  full  well,  that  the  slave  never 
has  been,  and  never  can  be,  a  whit  the  better  for  mere 
abstractions,  floating  in  the  head  of  any  man;  and 
they  also  know,  that  principles,  fixed  in  the  heart,  are 
things  of  another  sort.  The  former  have  never  done 
any  good  in  the  world,  because  they  possess  no 


OF  ABOLITIONISTS.  7 

vitality,  and  therefore  cannot  bring  forth  the  fruits  of 
holy,  untiring  effort ;  but  the  latter  live  in  the  lives  of 
their  possessors,  and  breathe  in  their  words.  And  I 
am  free  to  express  my  belief,  that  all  who  really  and 
heartily  approve  our  principles,  will  also  approve  our 
measures;  and  that,  too,  just  as  certainly  as  a  good 
tree  will  bring  forth  good  fruit. 

But  there  is  another  peculiarity  in  the  views  of  Ab 
olitionists.  We  hold  that  the  North  is  guilty  of  the 
crime  of  slaveholding — we  assert  that  it  is  a  national 
sin  :  on  the  contrary,  in  thy  book,  I  find  the  following 
acknowledgement : — '  Most  persons  in  the  non-slave- 
holding  States,  have  considered  the  matter  of  south 
ern  slavery  as  one  in  which  they  were  no  more  called 
to  interfere,  than  in  the  abolition  of  the  press-gang 
system  in  England,  or  the  tithe-system  in  Ireland.' 
Now  I  cannot  see  how  the  same  principles  can  pro 
duce  such  entirely  different  opinions.  '  Can  a  good 
tree  bring  forth  corrupt  fruit  ?'  This  I  deny,  and  can 
not  admit  what  thou  art  anxious  to  prove,  viz.  that 
'  Public  opinion  may  have  been  wrong  on  this  point, 
and  yet  right  on  all  those  great  principles  of  rectitude 
and  justice  relating  to  slavery.'  If  Abolition  princi 
ples  are  generally  adopted  at  the  North,  how  comes  it 
to  pass,  that  there  is  no  abolition  action  here,  except 
what  is  put  forth  by  a  few  despised  fanatics,  as  they 
are  called  ?  Is  there  any  living  faith  without  works  ? 
Can  the  sap  circulate  vigorously,  and  yet  neither  blos 
soms  put  forth  nor  fruit  appear  ? 

Again,  I  am  told  on  the  7th  page,  that  all  Northern 
Christians  believe  it  is  a  sin  to  hold  a  man  in  slavery 
for  *  mere  purposes  of  gain;'  as  if  this  was  the  whole 


8  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLE  OF  ABOLITIONISTS. 

abolition  principle  on  this  subject.  I  can  assure  thee 
that  Abolitionists  do  not  stop  here.  Our  principle  is, 
that  no  circumstances  can  ever  justify  a  man  in  hold 
ing  his  fellow  man  as  property ;  it  matters  not  what 
motive  he  may  give  for  such  a  monstrous  violation  of 
the  laws  of  God.  The  claim  to  him.  as  property  is  an 
annihilation  of  his  right  to  himself,  which  is  the  foun 
dation  upon  which  all  his  other  rights  are  built.  It  is 
high-handed  robbery  of  Jehovah;  for  He  has  declar 
ed,  '  All  souls  are  mine?  For  myself,  I  believe  there 
are  hundreds  of  thousands  at  the  South,  who  do  not 
hold  their  slaves,  by  any  means,  as  much  '  for  purposes 
of  gain,'  as  they  do  from  the  lust  of  power :  this  is 
the  passion  that  reigns  triumphant  there,  and  those 
who  do  not  know  this, have  much  yet  to  learn.  Where, 
then,  is  the  similarity  in  our  views  ? 

I  forbear  for  the  present,  and  subscribe  myself, 
Thine,  but  not  in  the  bonds  of  gospel  Abolitionism, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  II. 


IMMEDIATE  EMANCIPATION. 

BROOKLINE,  Mass.  6tk  month,  Ytih,  1837. 

DEAR  FRIEND  :  Where  didst  thou  get  thy  statement 
of  what  Abolitionists  mean  by  immediate  emancipa 
tion?  I  assure  thee,  it  is  a  novelty.  I  never  heard 
any  abolitionist  say  that  slaveholders  '  were  physically 
unable  to  emancipate  their  slaves,  and  of  course  are 
not  bound  to  do  it,'  because  in  some  States  there  are 
laws  which  forbid  emancipation.  This  is  truly  what 
our  opponents  affirm ;  but  we  say  that  all  the  laws 
which  sustain  the  system  of  slavery  are  unjust  and 
oppressive — contrary  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
morality,  and,  therefore,  null  and  void. 

We  hold,  that  all  the  slaveholding  laws  violate  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  preamble  of  that  instrument, 
the  great  objects  for  which  it  was  framed  are  declared 
to  be  '  to  establish  justice,  to  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  us 
and.  to  our  posterity.5  The  slave  laws  are  flagrant 


10  IMMEDIATE 

violations  of  these  fundamental  principles.  Slavery 
subverts  justice,  promotes  the  welfare  of  the  few  to 
the  manifest  injury  of  the  many,  and  robs  thousands 
of  the  posterity  of  our  forefathers  of  the  blessings  of 
liberty.  This  cannot  be  denied,  for  Paxton,  a  Virginia 
slaveholder,  says,  '  the  best  blood  in  Virginia  flows  in 
the  veins  of  slaves  !'  Yes,  even  the  blood  of  a  Jeffer 
son.  And  every  southerner  knows,  that  it  is  a  com 
mon  thing  for  the  posterity  of  our  forefathers  to  be 
sold  on  the  vendue  tables  of  the  South.  The  posteri 
ty  of  our  fathers  are  advertised  in  American  papers  as 
runaway  slaves.  Such  advertisements  often  contain 
expressions  like  these  :  '  has  sometimes  passed  himself 
off  as  a  white  man,' — '  has  been  mistaken  for  a  white 
man,' — '  quite  white,  has  straight  hair,  and  would  not 
readily  "be  taken  for  a  slave,'  &c. 

Now,  thou  wilt  perceive,  that,  so  far  from  thinking 
that  a  slaveholder  is  bound  by  the  immoral  and  un 
constitutional  laws  of  the  Southern  States,  we  hold 
that  he  is  solemnly  bound  as  a  man,  as  an  American, 
to  break  them,  and  that  immediately  and  openly ;  as 
much  so,  as  Daniel  was  to  pray,  or  Peter  and  John  to 
preach — or  every  conscientious  Quaker  to  refuse 
to  pay  a  militia  fine,  or  to  train,  or  to  fight.  We 
promulgate  no  such  time-serving  doctrine  as  that  set 
forth  by  thee.  When  we  talk  of  immediate  emanci 
pation,  we  speak  that  we  do  mean,  and  the  slavehold 
ers  understand  us,  if  thou  dost  not. 

Here,  then,  is  another  point  in  which  we  are  entire 
ly  at  variance,  though  the  princ'  *•  of  abolitionism  are 
'  generally  adopted  by  our  oppocers.'  What  shall  I 
say  to  these  things,  but  that  I  am  glad  thou  hast  af- 


EMANCIPATION  11 

forded  me  an  opportunity  of  explaining  to  thee  what 
our  principles  really  are  ?  for  I  apprehend  that  thou 
*  hast  not  been  sufficiently  informed  in  regard  to  the 
feelings  and  opinions '  of  abolitionists. 

It  matters  not  to  me  what  meaning  '  Dictionaries  or 
standard  writers '  may  give  to  immediate  emancipa* 
tion.  My  Dictionary  is  the  Bible ;  my  standard  au 
thors,  prophets  and  apostles.  When  Jehovah  com 
manded  Pharaoh  to  '  let  the  people  go,'  he  meant  tha* 
they  should  be  immediately  emancipated.  I  read  his 
meaning  in  the  judgments  which  terribly  rebuked 
Pharaoh's  repeated  and  obstinate  refusal  to  *  let  the 
people  go.'  I  read  it  in  the  universal  emancipation  of 
near  3,000,000  of  Israelites  in  one  awful  night. 
When  the  prophet  Isaiah  commanded  the  Jews  c  to 
loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  bur 
dens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break 
every  yoke,'  he  taught  no  gradual  or  partial  emanci 
pation,  but  immediate,  universal  emancipation.  When 
Jeremiah  said,  '  Execute  judgment  in  the  MORNING, 
and  deliver  him  that  is  spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
oppressor,'  he  commanded  immediate  deliverance. 
And  so  also  with  Paul,  when  he  exhorted  masters  to 
render  unto  their  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal. 
Obedience  to  this  command  would  immediately  over 
turn  the  whole  system  of  American  Slavery ;  for  lib 
erty  is  justly  due  to  every  American  citizen,  according 
to  the  laws  of  God  and  the  Constitution  of  our  coun 
try  ;  and  a  fair  recompense  for  his  labor  is  the  right  of 
every  man.  Slaveholders  know  this  is  just  as  well  as 
we  do.  John  C.  Calhoun  said  in  Congress,  in  1833 — 
4  He  who  earns  the  money — who  digs  it  out  of  the 


12  IMMEDIATE 

earth  with  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  has  a  just  title  to  it 
against  the  Universe.  No  one  has  a  right  to  touch  it 
without  his  consent,  except  his  government,  and  it 
only  to  the  extent  of  its  legitimate  wants  :  to  take  more 
is  robbery.' 

If  our  fundamental  principle  is  right,  that  no  man 
can  rightfully  hold  his  fellow  man  as  property,  then  it 
follows,  of  course,  that  he  is  bound  immediately  to 
•ease  holding  him  as  such,  and  that,  too,  in  violation  of 
the  immoral  and  unconstitutional  laws  which  have 
been  framed  for  the  express  purpose  of  '  turning  aside 
the  needy  from  judgment,  and  to  take  away  the  right 
from  the  poor  of  the  people,  that  widows  may  be  their 
prey,  and  that  they  may  rob  the  fatherless.'  Every 
slaveholder  is  bound  to  cease  to  do  evil  now,  to  eman 
cipate  his  slaves  now. 

Dost  thou  ask  what  I  mean  by  emancipation  ?  I  will 
explain  myself  in  a  few  words. '  1.  It  is  '  to  reject  with 
indignation,  the  wild  and  guilty  phantasy,  that  man 
can  hold  property  in  man.'  2.  To  pay  the  laborer 
his  hire,  for  he  is  worthy  of  it.  3.  No  longer  to  de 
ny  him  the  right  of  marriage,  but  to  'let  every  man 
have  his  own  wife,  and  let  every  woman  have  her 
own  husband,'  as  saith  the  apostle.  4.  To  let  parents 
have  their  own  children,  for  they  are  the  gift  of  the 
Lord  to  them,  and  no  one  else  has  any  right  to  them. 
5.  No  longer  to  withhold  the  advantages  of  education 
and  the  privilege  of  reading  the  Bible.  6.  To  put 
the  slave  under  the  protection  of  equitable  laws. 

Now,  why  should  not  all  this  be  done  immediately  ? 
Which  of  these  things  is  to  be  done  next  year,  and 
which  the  year  after  ?  and  so  on.  Our  immediate 


EMANCIPATION.  13 

emancipation  means,  doing  justice  and  loving  mercy 
to-day — and  this  is  what  we  call  upon  every  slavehold* 
er  to  do. 

I  have  seen  too  much  of  slavery  to  be  a  gradualist* 
I  dare  not,  in  view  of  such  a  system,  tell  the  slave 
holder,  that  '  he  is  physically  unable  to  emancipate  \\is 
slaves.'  I  say  he  is  able  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free, 
and  that  such  heaven-daring  atrocities  ought  to  cease 
now,  henceforth  and  forever.  Oh,  my  very  soul  is 
grieved  to  find  a  northern  woman  thus  '  sewing  pil 
lows  under  all  arm-holes,'  framing  and  fitting  soft  ex 
cuses  for  the  slaveholder's  conscience,  whilst  with  the 
same  pen  she  is  professing  to  regard  slavery  as  a  sin. 
41  An  open  enemy  is  better  than  such  a  secret  friend.' 

Hoping  that  thou  mayest  soon  be  emancipated  from 
such  inconsistency,  I  remain  until  then, 

Thine  out  of  the  bonds  of  Christian  Abolitionism, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  III. 

MAIN    PRINCIPLE    OF   ACTION. 

LYNN,  6th  Month,  23d, 
I)EAR  FRIEND  :— I  now  pass  on  to  the  consideration  of 
"*  the  main  principle  of  action  in  the  Anti- Slavery  Soci 
ety.'  Thou  art  pleased  to  assert  that  it '  rests  wholly  on 
a  false  deduction  from  past  experience,'  In  this,  also, 
thou  '  hast  not  been  sufficiently  informed.'  Our  main 
principle  of  action  is  embodied  in  God's  holy  command 
— 'Wash  you,  make  you  clean,  put  away  the  evil  of  your 
doings  from  before  mine  eyes,  cease  to  do  evil,  learn  to  do 
well;  seek  judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the 
fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow.'  Under  a  solemn 
conviction  that  it  is  our  duty  as  Americans  to  '  cry 
aloud  and  spare  not,  to  lift  up  our  voices  as  a  trumpet, 
and  to  show  our  people  their  transgressions,  and  the 
house  of  Jacob  their  sins,'  we  are  striving  to  rouse  a 
slumbering  nation  to  a  sense  of  the  retributions  which 
must  soon  descend  upon  her  guilty  head,  unless  like 
Ninevah  she  repent,  and  '  break  off  her  sins  by  righte 
ousness,  and  her  transgressions  by  showing  rnercy  to 
the  poor.'  This  is  our  '  main  principle  of  action.' 


MAIN  PRINCIPLE    OF   ACTION. 

Does  it  rest  '  wholly  on  a  false  deduction  from  past 
experience  ?'  or  on  the  experience  of  Israel's  King, 
who  exclaimed,  'In-  keeping  of  them  (thy  command 
ments,)  there  is  great  reward.' 

Thou  art  altogether  under  a  mistake,  if  thou  sup- 
posest  that  our  *  main  principle  of  action'  is  the  suc 
cessful  effort  of  abolitionists  in  England,  in  reference 
to  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade ;  for  I  hesitate  not 
to  pronounce  the  attempts  of  Clarkson  and  Wilber- 
force,  at  that  period  of  their  history,  to  have  been  a 
complete  failure  ;  and  never  have  the  labors  of  any 
philanthropists  so  fully  showed  the  inefficacy  of  half 
way  principles,  as  have  those  of  these  men  of  honora 
ble  fame.  The  doctrines  now  advocated  by  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  were  not  advanced 
by  the  abolitionists  of  that  day.  They  were  not  im 
mediate  abolitionists,  but  just  such  gradualists  as  thou 
art  even  now.  If  I  supposed  that  our  labors  in  the 
cause  of  the  slave  would  produce  no  better  results 
than  those  of  these  worthies,  I  should  utterly  despair. 
I  need  not  remind  thee,  that  they  bent  all  their  ener 
gies  to  the  annihilation  of  the  slave-trade,  under  the 
impression  that  this  was  the  mother  of  slavery  ;  and 
that  after  toiling  for  twenty  years,  and  obtaining  the 
passage  of  an  act  to  that  effect,  the  result  was  a  mere 
nominal  abolition ;  for  the  atrocities  of  the  slave-trade 
are,  if  possible,  greater  now  than  ever.  I  will  explain 
what  I  mean.  A  friend  of  mine  one  evening  last 
winter,  heard  a  conversation  between  two  men,  one  of 
whom  had,  until  recently,  been  a  slave-trader.  He 
had  made  several  voyages  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 
said  that  once  his  vessel  was  chased  by  an  English 


16  MAIN    PRINCIPLE    OF   ACTION. 

man  of  war,  and  that,  in  order  to  avoid  a  search  and 
the  penalty  of  death,  he  threw  every  slave  overboard  ; 
and  when  his  companion  expressed  surprise  and  horror 
at  such  a  wholesale  murder, '  Why,'  said  the  trader, 
'it  was  the  fault  of  the  English  ;  they  had  no  busi 
ness  to  make  a  law  to  hang  a  man  on  the  yard  arm, 
if  they  caught  him  with  slaves  in  his  ship.'  He 
intimated  that  it  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the 
captains  of  slavers  thus  to  save  their  lives. *  Where, 
then,  I  ask,  is  this  glorious  success  of  which  we  hear 
so  much,  but  see  so  little  1 

Let  us  travel  onward,  from  the  year  1806,  when 
England  passed  her  abolition  act.  What  were  British 
philanthropists  doing  for  the  emancipation  of  the 
slave,  for  the  next  twenty  years  ?  Nothing  at  all ;  and 
it  was  the  voice  of  Elizabeth  Heyrick  which  first 

*And  in.  f  Laird's  Expedition  to  Africa,  &c.'  a  work  recently 
published  in  England,  this- assertion  of  the  slave  trader  is  fully 
sustained.  Laird  relates  that  « there  is  proof  of  the  horrid 
fact,  that  several  of  the  wretches  engaged  in  .this  traffic,  when 
hotly  pursued,  consigned  whole  cargoes  to  the  deep.'  He  then 
goes  on  to  state .  several  such  instances,  from  which  I  select 
the  following  :  '  In  1833,  the  Black  Joke  and  Fair  Rosamond 
fell  in  with  the  Hercule  and  Regule,  two  slave  vessels  off  the 
Bonny  River.  On  perceiving  the  cruisers,  they  attempted  to 
regain  the  port,  and  pitched  overboard  upwards  of  500  human 
beings,  chained  together,  before  they  were  captured  ;  from  the 
abundance  of  sharks  in.  the  river,  their  track  was  literally  a 
blood-stained  one.  The  slaver  not  only  does  this,  but  glories 
in  it :  the  first  words  uttered  by  the  captain  of  the  Maria  Isa- 
belle,  seized  by  captain  Rose,  were,  <  that  if  he"  had  seen  the 
man  of  war  in  chase  an  hour  sooner,  he  would  have  thrown 
every  slave  in  his  vessel  overboard,  as  he  was  fully  insured? 


MAIN    PRINCIPLE    OF    ACTION.  17 

awakened  them  from  their  dream  of  gradualism  to 
"  an  understanding  of  the  simple  doctrine  of  immediate 
emancipation ;  but  even  though  they  saw  the  injus 
tice  and  inefficiency  of  their  own  views,  yet  several 
years  elapsed  before  they  had  the  courage  to  promul 
gate  hers.  And  now  I  can  point  thee  to  the  success 
of  these  efforts  in  the  emancipation  bill  of  1834. 
But  even  this  success  was  paltry,  in  comparison  with 
what  it  would  have  been,  had  all  the  conspicuous 
abolitionists  of  England  been  true  to  these  just  and 
holy  principles.  Some  of  them  were  false  to  those 
principles,  and  hence  the  compensation  and  appren 
ticeship  system.  A  few  months  ago,  it  was  my  priv 
ilege  to  converse  with  Joseph  Sturge,  on  his  return 
from  the  West  Indies,  via  New  York,  to  Liverpool, 
whither  he  had  gone  to  examine  the  working  of  Eng 
land's  plan  of  emancipation.  I  heard  him  speak  of 
the  bounty  of  £20,000,000  which  she  had  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  planters,  of  their  mean  and  cruel  abuse 
of  the  apprenticeship  system,  and  of  the  hearty  ap 
probation  he  felt  in  the  thorough-going  principles-  of 
the  Anti-Slavery  Societies  in  this  country,  and  his 
increased  conviction  that  ours  were  the  only  right 
principles  on  this  important  subject.  That  even  the 
apprenticeship  system  is  viewed  by  British  philan 
thropists  as  a  complete  failure,  is  evident  from  the 
•fact  that' they  are  now  re-organizing  their  Anti-Sla 
very  Societies,  and  circulating  petitions  for  the  substi 
tution  of  immediate  emancipation  in  its  stead. 

Hence    it   appears,  that   so    far  from   our   resting 
'  wholly  upon  a  false  deduction  from  past  experience? 
w~e  are  resting  on  no  experience  at  all ;  for  no  class  of 
2* 


18  MAIN   PRINCIPLE    OF   ACTION, 

men  in  the  world  ever  have  maintained  the  principles 
which  we  now  advocate.  Oar  main  principle  of 
action  is  'obedience  to  God  ' — our  hope  of  success  is 
faith  in  Him,  and  that  faith  is  as  unwavering  as  He 
is  true  and  powerful.  '  Blessed  is  the  man  who 
trusteth  in  the  Lord,  and  whose  hope  the  Lord  is.' 

With  regard  to  the  connection  between  the  North, 
^nd  the  South,  I  shall  say  but  little,  "having  already 
sent  thee  my  views  on  that  subject  in  the  letter  to 
•'  Clarkson,'  originally  published  in  the  New  Haven 
Religious  Intelligencer.  I  there  pointed  out  fifteen 
different  ways  in  which  the  North  was  implicated  in 
'the  guilt  of  slavery ;  and,  therefore,  I  deny  the  charge 
that  abolitionists  are  endeavoring  'to  convince  their 
fellow  citizens  of  the  faults  of  another  community.7 
Not  at  all.  We  are  spreading  out  the  horrors  of  slavery 
-before  Northerners,  in  order  to  show  them  their  oivn 
sin  in  sustaining  such  a  system  of  complicated  wrong 
and  suffering.  It  is  because  we  are  politically,  com 
mercially,  and  socially  connected  with  our  southern 
brethren,  that  we  urge  our  doctrines  upon  those  of  the 
free  States.  We  have  begun  our  work  here,  because 
-pro-slavery  men  of  the-  North  are  to  the  system  of 
slavery  just  what  temperate  drinkers  were  to  the  vice 
of  intemperance.  Temperance  reformers  did  not  begin 
their  -labors  among  drunkards,  but  among  temperate 
drinkers  :  so  Anti-Slavery  reformers  did  not  begin 
their  labors  among  slaveholders,  but  among  those  who 
were  making  their  fortunes  out  of  the  unrequited  toil 
of  the  slave,  and  receiving  large  mortgages  on  south 
ern  plantations  and  slaves,  and  trading  occasionally 
in  '  slaves  and  the  souls  of  men,'  and  sending  men  to 


MAIN   PRINCIPLE   OF    ACTION.  9 

Congress  to  buy  up  southern  land  to  be  converted 
into  slave  States,  such  as  Louisiana  and  Florida,  which 
cost  this  nation  $20,000,000— men  who  have  admitted 
seven  slave  States  into  the  Union — men  who  boast 
on  the  floor  of  Congress,  that  '  there  is  no  cause  in 
which  they  would  sooner  buckle  a  knapsack  on  their 
backs  and  shoulder  a  musket,  than  that  of  putting 
down  a  servile  insurrection  at  the  South,'  as  said  the- 
present  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  which  odious  sen 
timent  was  repeated  by  Governor  Lincoln  only  last 
winter — men  who,  trained  up  on  Freedom's  soil,  yet 
go  down  to  the  South  and  marry  slaveholders,  and 
become  slaveholders,  and  then  return  to  our  northern 
cities  with  slaves  in  their  train.  This  is  the  case 
with  a  native  of  this  town,  who  is  now  here  with  his 
southern  wife  and  southern  slave.  And  as  soon  as 
we  reform  the  recreant  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
North, — as  soon  as  we  rectify  public  opinion  at  the 
North, — then  I,  for  one,  will  promise  to  go  down  into- 
the  midst  of  slaveholders  themselves,  to  promulgate 
our  doctrines  in  the  land  of  the  slave.  But  how  can 
we  go  now,  when  northern  pulpits  and  meeting-houses 
are  closed,  and  northern  ministers  are  dumb,  and 
northern  Governors  are  declaring  that '  the  discussion 
of  the  subject  of  slavery  ought  to  be  made  an  offence 
indictable  at  common  law,'  and  northern  women  are 
writing  books  to  paralyze  the  efforts  of  southern  wo 
men,  who  have  come  up  from  the  South,  to  entreat 
their  northern  sisters  to  exert  their  influence  in  behalf 
of  the  slave,  and  in  behalf  of  the  slaveholder,  who  ia 
as  deeply  corrupted,  though  not  equally  degraded,  with 
the  slave.  No !  No  1  the  taunts  of  a  New  England 


20  MAIN   PRINCIPLE    OF    ACTION. 

woman  will  induce  no  abolitionist  to  cease  his  rebuke 
of  northern  slaveholders  and  apologists  for  slavery. 
Southerners  see  the  wisdom  of  this,  itthou  canst  not; 
and  over'  against  thy  opinion,  I  will  place  that  of  a 
Louisiana  planter,  who,  whilst  on  a  visit  to  his  relatives 
at  Uxbridge,  Mass,  this  summer,  unhesitatingly  ad 
mitted  that  the  North  was  the  right  place  to  begin 
Anti- Slavery  efforts.  Had  I  not  been  convinced  of 
this  before,  surely  thy  book  would  have  been  all-suffi 
cient  to  satisfy  me  of  it ;  for  a  more  subtle  defence  of 
the  slaveholder's  right  to  property  in  his  helpless  vic 
tims,  I  never  saw.  It  is  just  such  a  defence  as  the 
hidden  enemies  of  Liberty  will  rejoice  to  see,  because, 
like  thyself,  they  earnestly  desire  to  '  avoid  the  appear 
ance  of  evil ;  '  they  are  as  much  opposed  to  slavery  as 
we  are,  only  they  are  as  much  opposed  to  Anti-Sla 
very  as  the  slaveholders  themselves.  Is  there  any 
middle  path  in  this  reformation?  Or  may  we  not 
fairly  conclude,  that  he  or  she  that  is  not  for  the  slave, 
in  deed  and  in  truth,  is  against  him,  no  matter  how 
specious  their  professions  of  pity  for  his  condition  ? 
In  haste,  I  remain  thy  friend, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE, 


LETTER  IV. 

CONNECTION    BETWEEN    THE    NORTH   AND    SOUTH. 

DANVERS,  Mass.,  7tk  mo.,  1837. 
DEAR  FRIEND  : — I  thank  thee  for  having  furnished 
me  with  just  such  a  simile  as  I  needed  to  illustrate  the 
connection  which  exists  between  the  North  and  the 
South.  Thou  sayest, '  Suppose  two  rival  cities,  one  of 
which  becomes  convinced  that  certain  practices  in  trade 
and  business  in  the  other  are  dishonest,  and  have  an  op 
pressive  bearing  on  certain  classes  in  that  city.  Suppose, 
also,  that  these  are  practices,which,  by  those  who  allow 
them,  are  considered  as  honorable  and  right.  Those 
who  are  convinced  of  this  immorality  wish  to  alter 
the  opinions  and  the  practices  of  the  citizens  of  their 
rival  city,  and  to  do  this  they  commence  the  collection 
of  facts,  that  exhibit  the  tendencies  of  these  practices 
and  the  evils  they  have  engendered.  But,  instead  of 
going  among  the  community  in  which  the  evil  exists, 
and  endeavoring  to  convince  them,  they  proceed  to 
form  voluntary  associations  among  their  neighbors  at 
home,  and  spend  their  time,  money,  and  efforts  to 
convince  their  fellow  citizens  that  the  inhabitants  of 


CONNECTION   BETWEEN 

their  rival  city-  are  guilty  of  a  great  sin.'  Now  I  will 
take  up  the  comparison  here,  and  suppose  a  few  other 
things  about  these  two  cities.  Suppose  that  the  peo 
ple  in  one  city  were  known  never  to  pay  the  laborer 
his  wages,  but  to  be  in  the  constant  habit  of  keeping 
back  the  hire  of  those  who  reaped  down  their  fields; 
and  that,  on  examination,  it  was  found  that  the  people 
in  the  other  city  were  continually  going  over  to  live 
with  these  gentlemen  oppressors,  and  instead  of  re 
buking  them,  were  joining  hands  in  wickedness  with 
them,  and  were  actually  more  oppressive  to  the  poor 
than  the  native  inhabitants.  Suppose,  too,  it  was 
found  that  many  of  the  merchants  in  the  city  of  Fair- 
•dealing,  as  it  was  called,  were  known  to  hold  mort 
gages,  not  only  upon  the  property  which  ought  to 
belong  to  the  unpaid  laborers,  but  mortgages,  too,  on 
-the  laborers  themselves,  ay,  and  their  wives  and  chil 
dren  also,  a  thing  altogether  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
their  city,  and  the  customs  of  their  people,  and  the 
principles  of  fundamental  morality.  Suppose,  too,  it 
was  found  that  the  people  in  the  city  of  Oppression 
were  in  the  constant  practice  of  sending  over  to  the 
city  of  Fairdealing,  and  bribing  their  citizens  to  seize 
the  poorest,  most  defenceless  of  their  people  for  them, 
because  they  were  so  lazy  they  would  not  do  their 
own  work,  and  so  mean  they  would  not  pay  others 
for  doing  it,  and  chose  thus  to  supply  themselves  with 
laborers,  who,  when  they  once  got  into  the  city,  were 
placed  under  such  severe  laws,  that  it  was  almost  im 
possible  for  them  ever  to  return  to  their  afflicted  wives 
-and  children.  Suppose,  too,  that  whenever  any  of 
•these  oppressed,  unpaid  laborers  happened  to  escape 


ffiE   NORTH   AISTD   SOUTH:. 

from  the  city  of  Oppression,  and  after  lying  out  in  the 
woods  and  fastnesses  which  lay  between  the  two  cities, 
for  many  weeks,  *  in  weariness  and  painfulness,  in 
watchings,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  cold  and  naked 
ness,'  that,  as  soon  as  they  reached  the  city  of  Fair- 
dealing,  they  were  most  unmercifully  hunted  out  a'nd 
sent  back"  to  their  cruel  oppressors,  who  it  was  well 
known  generally  treated  such  laborers  with  great  cru 
elty,  '  stern  rtecessity'  demanding  that  they  should  be 
punished  and  '  rebuked  before  all,  that  others  might 
fear'  the  consequences  of  such  elopement.  In  short^ 
suppose  that  the  city  of  Fairdealing  was  so  completely 
connected  with  the  city  of  Oppression,  that  the  golden 
strands  of  their  interests  were  twisted  together  so  as 
to  form  a  bond  of  Union  stronger  than  death,  and  that 
by  the  intermarriages  which  were  constantly  taking 
place,  there  was  also  a  silken  cord  of  love  tying  up 
and  binding  together  the  tender  fe'elings  of  their  hearts 
with  all  the  intricacies  of  the  Gordian  knot ;  and  then, 
again,  that  the  identity  of  the  political  interests  of  these 
cities  were  Wound  round  and  round  them  like  bands 
of  iron  and  brass,  altogether  forming  an  union  so 
complicated  and  powerful,  that  it  was  impossible  even 
to  speak  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  in  the  city  of 
Fairdealing1,  of  the  enormous  crimes  which  were 
common  in  the  city  of  Oppression,  without  having 
brickbats  and  rotten  eggs  hurled  at  the  speaker's 
head.  Suppose,  too,  that  although  it  was  perfectly 
manifest  to  every  reflecting  mind,  that  a  most  guilty 
copartnership  existed  between  these  two  cities,  yet 
that  the  '  gentlemen  of  property  and  standing'  of  the 
city  of  Fairdealing  were  continually  taunting  the 


24  CONNECTION   BETWEEN 

people  who  were  trying-  to  represent  their  iniquitous 
league  with  the  city  of  Oppression  in  its  true  and 
sinful  bearings,  with  the  query  of  '  Why  don't  you 
go  to  the  city  of  Oppression,  and  tell  the  people  there, 
not  to  rob  the  poor?'  Might  not  these  reformers 
very  justly  remark,  we  cannot  go  there  until  we  have 
persuaded  our  oivn  citizens  to  cease  their  unholy  co 
operation  with  them,  for  they  will  certainly  turn  upon 
us  in  bitter  irony  and  say — '  Physician,  heal  thyself;' 
go  back  to  your  own  city,  and  tell  your  own  citizens 
*  to  break  off  their  sins  by  righteousness,  and  their 
transgressions  by  showing  mercy  to  the  poor,'  who 
fly  from  our  city  into  the  gates  of  theirs  for  protection, 
but  receive  it  not.  Would  not  common  sense  bear 
them  out  in  refusing  to  go  there,  until  they  had  first 
converted  their  own  people  from  the  error  of  their 
ways  ?  I  will  leave  thee  and  my  other  readers  to 
make  the  application  of  this  comparison  ;  and  if  thou 
dost  not  acknowledge  that  abolitionists  have  been 
governed  by  the  soundest  common  sense  in  the  course 
they  have  pursued  at  the  North  with  regard  to  slave 
ry,  then  I  am  very  much  disappointed  in  thy  profes 
sions  of  candor.  With  regard  to  the  parallel  thou 
hast  drawn  (p.  16,)  between  abolitionists,  and  the 
'  men  (who)are  daily  going  into  the  streets,  and  calling 
all  bystanders  around  them  '  and  pointing  out  certain 
men,  some  as  liars,  some  as  dishonest,  some  as  licen 
tious,  and  then  bringing  proofs  of  their  guilt  and  re 
buking  them  before  all ;  at  the  same  time  exhorting 
all  around  to  point  at  them  the  finger  of  scorn;'  thou 
sayest,  '  they  persevere  in  this  course  till  the  whole 
community  is  thrown  into  an  uproar ;  and  assaults 


THE    NORTH   AND    SOUTH.  25 

and  even  bloodshed  ensue.'  But  why,  I  should  like 
to  know,  if  these  people  are  themselves  guiltless  of 
the  crimes  alleged  against  the  others  ?  I  cannot  un 
derstand  why  they  should  be  so  angry,  unless,  like 
the  Jews  of  old,  they  perceived  that  the  parable  had 
been  spoken  '  against  them.''  To  my  own  mind,  the 
exasperation  of  the  North  at  the  discussion  of  slavery 
is  an  undeniable  proof  of  her  guilt,  a  certain  evidence 
of  the  necessity  of  her  plucking  the  beam  out  of  her 
own  eye,  before  she  goes  to  the  South  to  rebuke  sin 
there.  To  thee,  and  to  all  who  are  continually 
crying  out,  '  Why  don't  you  go  to  the  South  ?'  I  re 
tort  the  question  by  asking,  why  don't  YOU  go  to  the 
South?  We  conscientiously  believe  that  this, work 
must  be  commenced  here  at  the  North ;  this  is  an 
all-sufficient  answer  for  us ;  but  YOU,  who  are  *  as 
much  anti-slavery  as  we  are,'  and  differ  only  as  to 
the  modus  operandi,  believing  that  the  South  and  not 
the  North  ought  to  be  the  field  of  Anti-Slavery  labors 
— YOU,  I  say,  have  no  excuse  to  offer,  and  are  bound 
to  go  there  now. 

But  there  is  another  view  to  be  taken  of  this  sub 
ject.  By  all  our  printing  and  talking  at  the  North, 
we  have  actually  reached  the  very  heart  of  the  disease 
at  the  South.  They  acknowledge  it  themselves. 
Read  the  following  confession  in  the  Southern  Lite 
rary  Review.  '  There  are  many  good  men  even 
among  us,  who  have  begun  to  grow  timid.  They 
think  that  what  the  virtuous  and  high-minded  men 
of  the  North  look  upon  as  a  crime  and  a  plague-spot, 
cannot  be  perfectly  innocent  or  quitte  harmless  in  a 
slaveholding  community.'  James  Smylie,  of  Missis- 
3 


26  CONNECTION   BETWEEN 

sippi,  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  so  catted,  tells  us  on 
the  very  first  page  of  his  essay,  written  to  uphold  the 
doctrines  of  Governor  McDuffie,  'that  the  abolition 
maxim,  viz.  that  slavery  is  in  itself  sinful,  had  gained 
on  and  entwined  itself  among  the  religious  and  con 
scientious  scruples  of  many  in  the  community,  so  far 
as  to  render  them  unhappy.'  I  could  quote  other 
southern  testimony  to  the  same  effect,  but  will  pass 
on  to  another  fact  just  published  in  the  New  England 
Spectator;  a  proposition  from  a  minister  in  Missouri 
'  to  have  separate  organizations  for  slavery  and  anti- 
slavery  professors,'  and  indeed  '  all  over  the  slave- 
holding  States.'  Has  our  labor  then  been  in  vain 
in  the  Lord  ?  Have  we  failed  to  rouse  the  slumbering 
consciences  of  the  South? 

Thou  inquirest — '  Have  the  northern  States  power 
to  rectify  evils  at  the  South,  as  they  have  to  remove 
their  own  moral  deformities?'  I  answer  unhesitat 
ingly,  certainly  they  have,  for  moral  evils  can  be  re 
moved  only  by  moral  power  ;  and  the  close  connec 
tion  which  exists  between  these  two  portions  of  our 
country,  affords  the  greatest  possible  facilities  for  ex 
erting  a  moral  influence  on  it.  Only  let  the  North 
exert  as  much  moral  influence  over  the  South,  as  the 
South  has  exerted  demoralizing  influence  over  the 
North,  and  slavery  would  die  amid  the  flame  of 
Christian  remonstrance,  and  faithful  rebuke,  and  holy 
indignation.  The  South  has  told  us  so.  In  the  re 
port  of  the  committee  on  federal  relations  in  the  Leg 
islature  of  South  Carolina  last  winter,  we  find  the 
following  acknowledgement :  '  Let  it  be  admitted, 
that  by  reason  of  an  efficient  police  and  judicious  in- 


THE   NORTH    AND    SOUTH.  2? 

ternal  legislation,  we  may  render  abortive  the  designs 
of  the  fanatic  and  incendiary  within  our  limits,  and 
that  the  torrent  of  pamphlets  and  tracts  which  the 
abolition  presses  of  the  North  are  pouring  forth  with 
an  inexhaustible  copiousness,  is  arrested  the  moment 
it  reaches  our  frontier.  Are  we  to  wait  until  6ur 
enemies  have  built  up,  by  the  grossest  misrepresenta 
tions  and  falsehoods,  a  body  of  public  opinion,  which 
it  would  be  impossible  to  resist,  without  separating 
ourselves  from  the  social  system  of  the  rest  of  the 
civilized  world  ?'  Here  is  the  acknowledgement  of  a  . 
southern  legislature,  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  the 
South  to  resist  the  influence  of  that  body  of  public 
opinion,  which  abolitionists  are  building  up  against 
them  at  the  North.  If  further  evidence  is  needed,* 
that  anti-slavery  societies  are  producing  a  powerful 
influence  at  the  South,  look  at  the  efforts  made  there 
to  vilify  and  crush  them.  V7hy  all  this  turmoil,  and 
passion,  and  rage  in  the  slaveholder,  if  we  have  indeed 
rolled  back  the  cause  of  emancipation  200  years,  as 
thy  father  has  asserted  ?  Why  all  this  terror  at  the 
distant  roar  of  free  discussion,  if  they  feel  not  the 
earth  quaking  beneath  them  1  Does  not  the  South 
understand  what  really  will  affect  her  interests  and 
break  down  her  domestic  institution  ?  Has  she  no 
subtle  politicians,  no  far-sighted  men  in  her  borders, 
who  can  scan  the  practical  bearings  of  these  troublous 
times  ?  Believe  me,  she  has  ;  and  did  they  not  know 
that  we  are  springing  a  mine  beneath  the  great  bastile 
of  slavery,  and  laying  a  train  which  will  soon  whelm 
it  in  ruin,  she  would  not  be  quite  so  eager  *  to  cut  out 
our  tongues,  and  hang  us  as  high  as  Haman.' 


28   CONNECTION  BETWEEN  THE  NORTH  AND  SOUTH. 

I  will  just  add,  that  as  to  the  committee  saying 
that  abolitionists  are  building  up  a  body  of  public 
opinion  at  the  North  '  by  the  grossest  misrepresenta 
tions  and  falsehoods,'  I  think  it  was  due  to  their 
character  for  veracity,  to  have  cited  and  refuted  some 
of  these  calumnies.  Until  they  do,  we  must  believe 
them ;  and  as  a  Southerner,  I  can  bear  the  most  de 
cided  testimony  against  slavery  as  the  mother  of  all 
abominations.  Farewell  for  the  present. 

I  remain  thy  friend, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  V, 


CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER  OF  ABOLITIONISM. 

NEWBURYPORT,  7tk  mo.  8tk,  1837. 

DEAR  FRIEND  :  As  an  Abolitionist,  I  thank  thee  for 
the  portrait  thou  hast  drawn  of  the  character  of  those 
with  whom  I  am  associated.  They  deserve  all  thou 
hast  said  in  their  favor  ;  and  I  will  now  endeavor  to 
vindicate  those  '  men  of  pure  morals,  of  great  honesty 
of  purpose,  of  real  benevolence  and  piety,'  from  some 
objections  thou  hast  urged  against  their  measures. 

*  Much  evidence,'  thou  sayest,  *  can  be  brought  to 
prove  that  the  character  and  measures  of  the  Aboli 
tion  Society  are  not  either  peaceful  or  Christian  in 
tendency,  but  that  they  are  in  their  nature  calculated 
to  generate  party  spirit,  denunciation,  recrimination, 
and  angry  passion.'  Now  I  solemnly  ask  thee,  wheth 
er  the  character  and  measures  of  our  holy  Redeemer 
did  not  produce  exactly  the  same  effects  ?  Why  did 
the  Jews  lead  him  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  that  they 
might  cast  him  down  headlong ;  why  did  they  go  about 
to  kill  him  ;  why  did  they  seek  to  lay  hands  on  him, 
if  the  tendency  of  his  measures  was  so  very  pacific  ? 


30  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER 

Listen,  too,  to  his  own  declaration  :  '  I  came  not  to  send 
peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword  ;'  the  effects  of  which,  he 
expressly  said,  would  be  to  set  the  mother  against  her 
daughter,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother- 
in-law.  The  rebukes  which  he  uttered  against  sin 
were  eminently  calculated  to  produce  '  recriminations 
and  angry  passions,'  in  all  who  were  determined  to 
cleave  to  their  sins  ;  and  they  did  produce  them  even 
against  'him  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found 
in  his  mouth.5  He  was  called  a  wine-bibber,  and  a 
glutton,  and  Beelzebub,  and  was  accused  of  casting  out 
devils  by  the  prince  of  the  devils.  .  Why,  then,  pro 
test  against  our  measures  as  unchristian,  because  they 
do  not  smooth  the  pillow  of  the  poor  sinner,  and  lull 
his  conscience  into  fata]  security  ?  The  truth  is,  the 
efforts  of  abolitionists  have  stirred  up  the  very  same 
spirit  which  the  efforts  of  all  thorough- going  reform 
ers  have  ever  done ;  we  consider  it  a  certain  proof 
that  the  truths  we  utter  are  sharper  than  any  two 
edged  sword,  and  that  they  are  doing  the  work  of  con 
viction  in  the  hearts  of  our  enemies.  If  it  be  not  so, 
I  have  greatly  mistaken  the  character  of  Christianity. 
I  consider  it  pre  eminently  aggressive  ;  it  waits  not  to 
be  assaulted,  but  moves  on  in  all  the  majesty  of  Truth 
to  attack  the  strong  holds  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness, 
carries  the  war  into  the  enemy's  camp,  and  throws  its 
fiery  darts  into  the  midst  of  its  embattled  hosts.  Thou 
seemest  to  think,  on  the  contrary,  that  Christianity  is 
just  such  a  weak,  dependent,  puerile  creature  as  thou 
hast  described  woman  to  be.  In  my  opinion,  thou 
hast  robbed  both  the  one  and  the  other  of  all  their 
true  dignity  and  glory.  Thy  descriptions  may  suit 


OF  ABOLITIONISM.  31 

the  prevailing  Christianity  of  this  age,  and  the  general 
character  of  woman  ;  and  if  so,  we  have  great  cause 
for  shame  and  confusion  of  face. 

I  feel  sorry  thai  thy  unkind  insinuations  against  the 
Christian  character  of  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  have  ren 
dered  it  necessary  for  me  to  speak  of  him  individual 
ly,  because  what  I  shall  feel  bound  to  say  of  him  may, 
to  some  like  thyself,  appear  like  flattery  ;  but  I  must 
do  what  justice  seems  so  clearly  to  call  for  at  my 
hands.  Thou  sayest  that '  though  he  professes  a  be 
lief  in  the  Christian  religion,  he  is  an  avowed  oppo 
nent  of  most  of  its  institutions.'  I  presume  thou  art 
here  alluding  to  his  views  of  the  ordinances  of  bap 
tism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  and  the  Sabbath.  Permit 
me  to  remind  thee,  that  in  all  these  opinions,  he  coin 
cides  entirely  with  the  Society  of  Friends,  whose 
views  of  the  Sabbath  never  were  so  ably  vindicated 
as  by  his  pen :  and  the  insinuations  of  hypocrisy 
which  thou  hast  thrown  out  against  him,  may  with 
just  as  much  truth  be  cast  upon  them.  The  Quakers 
think  that  these  are  not  Christian  institutions,  but  thou 
hast  assumed  it  without  any  proof  at  all.  Thou  say 
est  farther,  '  The  character  and  spirit  of  this  man  have 
for  years  been  exhibited  in  the  Liberator.'  I  have 
taken  that  paper  for  two  years,  and  therefore  under 
stand  its  character,  and  am  compelled  to  acknowledge, 
that  harsh  and  severe  as  is  the  language  often  used,  I 
have  never  seen  any  expressions  which  truth  did  not 
warrant.  The  abominations  of  slavery  cannot  be 
otherwise  described.  I  think  Dr.  Channing  exactly 
portrayed  the  character  of  brother  Garrison's  writings 
when  he  said, «  That  deep  feeling  of  evils,  which  is 


CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER 

necessary  to  effectual  conflict  with  them,  which  marks 
God's  most  powerful  messengers  to  mankind,  cannot 
breathe  itself  in  soft  and  tender  accents.  The  deeply 
moved  soul  will  speak  strongly,  and  ought  to  speak 
strongly,  so  as  to  move  and  shake  nations.'  It  is  well  for 
the  slave,  and  well  for  this  country,  that  such  a  man  was 
sent  to  sound  the  tocsin  of  alarm  before  slavery  had  com 
pleted  its  work  of  moral  death  in  this  '  hypocritical  na 
tion.'  Garrison  begun  that  discussion  of  the  subject  of 
slavery,  which  J.  Q.  Adams  declared  in  his  oration,  de 
livered  in  this  town  on  the  4th  inst. '  to  be  the  only  safe 
ty-valve  by  which  the  high  pressure  boiler  of  slavery 
could  be  prevented  from  a  most  fatal  explosion  in  this 
country ;'  and  as  a  Southerner,  I  feel  truly  grateful  for 
all  his  efforts  to  redeem  not  the  slave  only,  but  the 
slaveholder,  from  the  polluting  influences  of  such  a 
system  of  crime. 

In  his  character  as  a  man  and  a  Christian,  I  have 
the  highest  confidence.  The  assertion  thou  makest, 
*  that  there  is  to  be  found  in  that  paper,  or  any  thing 
else,  any  evidence  of  his  possessing  the  peculiar  traits 
of  Wilberforce,  (benignity,  gentleness  and  kind  heart- 
edness,  I  suppose  thou  meanest,)  not  even  his  warm 
est  admirers  will  maintain,'  is  altogether  new  to  me  ; 
and  I  for  one  feel  ready  to  declare,  that  I  have  never 
met  in  any  one  a  more  lovely  exhibition  of  these  traits 
of  character.  I  might  relate  several  anecdotes  in 
proof  of  this  assertion,  but  let  one  suffice.  A  friend 
of  mine,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  told  me 
that  after  he  became  interested  in-  the  Anti-Slavery 
cause  through  the  Liberator,  he  still  felt  so  much  pre 
judice  against  its  editor,  that,  although  he  wished  to 


OF  ABOLITIONISM.  33 

labor  in  behalf  of  the  slaves,  he  still  felt  as  if  he 
could  not  identify  himself  with  a  society  which  recog 
nized  such  a  leader  as  he  had  heard  Win.  L.  Garri 
son  was.  He  had  never  seen  him,  and  after  many 
struggles  of  feeling,  determined  to  go  to  Boston  on 
purpose  to  see  { this  man,'  and  judge  of  his  character 
for  himself.  He  did  so,  and  when  he  entered  the  of 
fice  of  the  Liberator,  soon  fell  into  conversation  with 
a  person  he  did  not  know,  and  becam^ery  much  in 
terested  in  him.  After  some  time,  a  third  person 
came  in  and  called  off  the  attention  of  the  stranger^ 
whose  benevolent  countenance  and  benignant  manners 
he  had  so  much  admired.  He  soon  heard  him  ad 
dressed  as  Mr.  Garrison,  which  astonished  him  very 
much ;  for  he  had  expected  to  see  some  coarse,  un 
couth  and  rugged  creature,  instead  of  the  perfect  gen 
tleman  he  now  learned  was  Win.  L.  Garrison.  He 
told  me  that  the  effect  upon  his  mind  was  so  great, 
that  he  sat  down  and  wept  to  think  he  had  allowed 
himself  to  be  so  prejudiced  against  a  person,  who  was 
so  entirely  different  from  what  his  enemies  had  repre 
sented  him  to  be.  He  at  once  felt  as  if  he  could  most 
cheerfully  labor,  heart  and  hand,  with  such  a  man, 
and  has  for  the  last  three  or  four  years  been  a  faithful 
co-worker  with  him,  in  the  holy  cause  of  immediate 
emancipation.  And  his  confidence  in  him  as  a  man 
of  pure,  Christian  principle,  has  grown  stronger  and 
stronger,  as  time  has  advanced,  and  circumstances 
have  developed  his  true  character.  I  think  it  is  im 
possible  thou  canst  be  personally  acquainted  with 
brother  Garrison,  or  thou  wouldst  not  write  of  him  in 
the  way  thou  hast.  If  thou  really  wishest  to  have 


34  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER   OF  ABOLITIONISM. 

thy  erroneous  opinions  removed,  embrace  the  first  op 
portunity  of  being  introduced  to  him  ;  for  I  can  assure 
thee,  that  with  the  fire  of  a  Paul,  he  does  possess  some 
of  the  most  lovely  traits  in  the  character  of  Wilber- 
force. 

In  much  haste,  I  remain  thy  friend, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  VI. 


COLONIZATION. 

AMESBURY.  7th  mo.  2(M,  1837. 

DEAR  FRIEND  :  The  aggressive  spirit  of  Anti-Slavery 
papers  and  pamphlets,  of  which  thou  dost  complain,  so 
far  from  being  a  repulsive  one  to  me,  is  very  attrac 
tive.  I  see  in  it  that  uncompromising  integrity  and 
fearless  rebuke  of  sin,  which  will  bear  the  enterprize 
of  emancipation  through  to  its  consummation.  And  I 
most  heartily  desire  to  see  these  publications  scatter 
ed  over  our  land  as  abundantly  as  the  Reaves  of  Au 
tumn,  believing  as  I  do  that  the  principles  they  pro 
mulgate  will  be  as  leaves  for  the  healing  of  this  na 
tion. 

I  proceed  to  examine  thy  objections  to  '  one  of  the 
first  measures  of  Abolitionists:'  their  attack  on  a  be 
nevolent  society. 

That  the  Colonization  Society  is  a  benevolent  insti 
tution,  we  deny  :  therefore  our  attack  upon  it  was  not 
a  sacrilegious  one  ;  it  was  absolutely  necessary,  in  or 
der  to  disabuse  the  public  mind  of  the  false  views  they 
entertained  of  its  character.  And  it  is  a  perfect  mys- 


36  COLONIZATION. 

tery  to  me  how  men  and  women  can  conscientiously 
persevere  in  upholding  a  society,  which  the  very  ob 
jects  of  its  professed  benevolence  have  repeatedly,  sol 
emnly,  constantly  and  universally  condemned.  To 
say  the  least,  this  is  a  very  suspicious  kind  of  benev 
olence,  and  seems  too  nearly  allied  to  that,  which  in 
duces  some  southern  professors  to  keep  their  brethren 
in  bonds  for  their  benefit.  Yes,  the  free  colored  peo 
ple  are  to  be  exiled,  because  public  opinion  is  crushing1 
them  into  the  dust ;  instead  of  their  friends  protesting 
against  that  corrupt  and  unreasonable  prejudice,  and 
living  it  down  by  a  practical  acknowledgement  of  their 
right  to  every  privilege,  social,  civil  and  religious, 
which  is  enjoyed  by  the  white  man.  I  have  never 
yet  been  able  to  learn,  how  our  hatred  to  our  colored 
brother  is  to  be  destroyed  by  driving  him  away  from 
us.  I  am  told  that  when  a  colored  republic  is  built 
up  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  then  we  shall  respect  that 
republic,  and  acknowledge  that  the  character  of  the 
colored  man  can  be  elevated ;  we  will  become  con 
nected  with  it  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  and  wel 
come  it  to  the  sympathies  of  our  hearts.  Miserable 
sophistry !  deceitful  apology  for  present  indulgence  in 
sin  !  What  man  or  woman  of  common  sense  now 
doubts  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  colored  people  ? 
Who  does  not  know,  that  with  all  our  efforts  as  a  na 
tion  to  crush  and  '  annihilate  the  mind  of  this  portion 
of  our  race,'  we  have  never  yet  been  able  to  do  it  ? 
Henry  Berry  of  Virginia,  in  his  speech  in  the  Legis 
lature  of  that  State,  in  1832,  expressly  acknowledged, 
that  although  slaveholders  had  '  as  far  as  possible  clos 
ed  every  avenue  by  which  light  might  enter  their 


COLONIZATION.  37 

minds,'  yet  that  they  never  had  found  out  the  process 
by  which  they  '  could  extinguish  the  capacity  to  see 
the  light.'  No !  that  capacity  remains — it  is  inde 
structible — an  integral  part  of  their  nature,  as  moral 
and  immortal  beings. 

If  it  is  true  that  white  Americans  only  need  a  de 
monstration  of  the  colored  man's  capacity  for  eleva 
tion,  in  order  to  make  them  willing  to  receive  him  on 
the  same  platform  of  human  rights  upon  which  they 
stand,  why  has  not  the  intelligence  of  the  Haytians 
convinced  them  ?  Their  free  republic  has  grown  up 
under  the  very  eye  of  the  slaveholder,  and  as  a  nation 
we  have  for  many  years  been  carrying  on  a  lucrative 
trade  with  her  merchants  ;  and  yet  we  have  never  re 
cognized  her  independence,  never  sent  a  minister 
there,  though  we  have  sent  ambassadors  to  European 
countries  whose  commerce  is  far  less  important  to  us 
us  than  that  of  St.  Domingo.^ 

These  professions  of  a  wish  to  plant  the  tree  of 
Liberty  on  the  shores  of  Africa,  in  order  to  convince 
our  Republican  Despotism  of  the  high  moral  and  in 
tellectual  worth  of  the  colored  man,  are  perfectly  ab- 

*  Although  there  are  some  who  like  to  discant  on  the 
worthless  character  of  the  Haytians,  and  the  miserable  con 
dition  of  the  Island,  yet  it  is  an  indisputuble  fact,  that  a  pop 
ulation  of  nearly  1,000,000  are  supported  on  its  soil,  and  that 
in  1833,  the  value  of  its  exports  to  the  United  States  exceed 
ed  in  value  those  of  Prussia,  Sweden,  and  Norway — Denmark 
and  the  Danish  West  Indies — Ireland  and  Scotland — Holland 
— Belgium — Dutch  East  Indies — British  West  Indies — Spain 
— Portugal — all  Italy — Turkey  and  the  -Levant,  or  any  one 
Republic  in  South  America. 

4 


38  COLONIZATION. 

surd.  Hayti  has  done  that  long  ago.  A  friend  of 
mine  (not  an  Abolitionist)  whose  business  called  him 
to  that  island  for  several  months,  told  me  that  in  the 
society  of  its  citizens,  he  often  felt  his  own  inferiority. 
He  was  astonished  at  the  elegance  of  their  manners, 
and  the  intelligence  of  their  conversation.  Instead  of 
going  into  an  examination  of  Colonization  principles, 
I  refer  thee  to  the  Appeal  to  the  Women  of  the  nom 
inally  free  States,  issued  by  the  "Convention  of  Amer 
ican  Women,  in  which  we  set  forth  our  reasons  for 
repudiating  them. 

Thou  hast  given  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in 
which  Abolitionists  deal  with  their  Colonization  oppo 
nents.  Thy  friend  remarked,  after  an  interview  with 
an  abolitionist,  '  I  love  truth  and  sound  argument ;  but 
when  a  man  comes  at  me  with  a  sledge  hammer,  I 
cannot  help  dodging.'  I  presume  thy  friend  only  felt 
the  truth  of  the  prophet's  declaration,  '  Is  not  my  word 
like  as  a  fire,  saith  the  Lord,  and  like  a  hammer  that 
breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ?'  I  wonder  not  that  he 
did  dodge,  when  the  sledge  hammer  of  truth  was  wield 
ed  by  an  abolition  army.  Many  a  Colonizationist  has 
been  compelled  to  dodge,  in  order  to  escape  the  blows  of 
this  hammer  of  the  Lord's  word,  for  there  is  no  other  way 
to  get  clear.  We  must  either  dodge  the  arguments  of  ab 
olitionists,  or  like  J.  G.  Birney,  Edward  C.  Delevan, 
and  many  others,  be  willing  to  be  broken  to  pieces  by 
them.  I  greatly  like  this  specimen  of  private  dealing, 
and  hope  it  is  not  the  only  instance  which  has  come 
under  thy  notice,  of  Colonizationists  acknowledging 
the  absolute  necessity  of  dodging  Anti- Slavery  argu 
ments,  when  they  were  unwilling  that  the  rock  of  pre 
judice  should  be  broken  to  pieces  by  them, 


COLONIZATION.  39 

Thy  next  complaint  is  against  the  manner  in  which 
this  benevolent  EXPATRIATION   Society  was  attacked. 
'  The  style  in  which  the  thing  was  done  was  at  once 
offensive,  inflammatory  and  exasperating,' — *  the  feel 
ings  of  many  sincere,  upright,  and  conscientious  men 
were  harrowed  by  a  sense  of  the  injustice,  the  inde 
corum  and  the  unchristian  treatment  they  received.' 
But  why,  if  they  were  entirely  innocent  of  the  charges 
brought  against  Colonizationists  ?     I  have  been  in  the 
habit,  for  several  years  past,  of  watching  the  workings 
of  my  own  mind  under  true  and  false  charges  against 
myself;  and  my  experience  is,  that  the  more  clear  I 
am  of  the  charge,  the  less  I  care  about  it.     If  I  really 
feel  a  sweet  assurance  that  '  my  witness  is  in  heaven 
— my  record  is  on  high,'  I  then  realize  to  its   fullest 
extent  that  '  it  is  a  small  thing  to  be  judged  of  man's. 
judgment,'  and  I  can  bear/#/se  charges  unmoved;  but 
true  ones  always  nettle  me,   if  I  am  unwilling  to  con 
fess  that  '  I  have  sinned ;'  if  I  am,  and  yield  to  con 
viction,  O  then  !  how  sweet  the  reward  !     Now  I  am 
very  much  afraid  that  these  sincere,  upright  and  con 
scientious  Colonizationists  are  something  like  the  pi 
ous  professors  of  the  South,  who  are  very  angry  be 
cause  abolitionists  say  that  all  slaveholders  are   men- 
stealers.     Both  find  it  'hard  to  kick  against  the  pricks* 
of  conviction,  and  both  are  unwilling  to  repent.     A 
northern  man  remarked  to  a  Virginia  slaveholder  last 
winter,  '  that  as  the  South  denied  the  charges  brought 
against  her  by  abolitionists,  he  could  not  understand 
why  she  was  so  enraged  ;  for,'  continued  he,  '  if  you 
were  to  accuse  us  at  the  North  of  being  sheep-stealers, 
we  should  not  care  about  the  charge — we  should  ridi- 


40  COLONIZATION. 

cule  it.'  '  O  !'  said  the  Virginian  with  an  oath,  '  what 
the  abolitionists  say  about  slaveholders  is  too  true, 
and  that's  the  reason  we  are  vexed.'  Is  not  this  the 
reason  why  our  Colonization  brethren  and  sisters  are 
so  angry  ?  Is  not  what  we  say  of  them  also  too  true  ? 
Let  them  examine  these  things  with  the  bible  and 
prayer,  and  settle  this  question  between  God  and  their 
own  souls. 

Every  true  friend  of  the  oppressed  American  has 
great  cause  to  rejoice,  that  the  cloak  of  benevolence 
has  been  torn  off  from  the  monster  Prejudice,  which 
could  love  the  colored  man  after  he  got  to  Africa,  but 
seemed  to  delight  to  pour  contumely  upon  him  whilst 
he  remained  in  the  land  of  his  birth.  I  confess  it 
would  be  very  hard  for  me  to  believe  that  any  associa- ' 
tion  of  men  and  women  loved  me  or  my  family,  if,  be 
cause  we  had  become  obnoxious  to  them,  they  were  to 
meet  together,  and  concentrate  their  energies  and  pour 
out  their  money  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  us  back 
to  France,  whence  our  Hugenot  fathers  fled  to  this 
coutryn  to  escape  the  storm  of  persecutions.  Why  not 
let  us  live  in  America,  if  you  really  love  us  ?  Surely 
you  never  want  to  '  get  rid"1  of  people  whom  you  love. 
/like  to  have  such  near  me  ;  and  it  is  because  I  love 
the  colored  Americans,  that  I  want  them  to  stay  in 
this  country  ;  and  in  order  to  make  it  a  happy  home 
to  them,  I-am  trying  to  talk  down,  and  write  down,  and 
live  down  this  horrible  prejudice.  Sending  a  few  to 
Africa  cannot  destroy  it.  No — we  must  dig  up  the 
weed  by  the  roots  out  of  each  of  our  hearts.  It  is  a 
sin,  and  we  must  repent  of  it  and  forsake  it— and  then 


COLONIZATION.  41 

we  shall  no  longer  be  so  anxious  to  '  be  dear  of  them,1 
'  to  get  rid  of  them.'' 

Hoping,  though  against  hope,  that  thou  mayest  one 
day  know  how  precious  is  the  reward  of  those  who 
can  love  Our  oppressed  brethren  and  sisters  in  this  day 
of  their  calamity,  and  who,  despising  the  shame  of  be 
ing  identified  with  these  peeled  and  scattered  ones, 
rejoice  to  stand  side  by  side  with  them,  in  the  glorious 
conflict  between  Slavery  and  Freedom,  Prejudice  and 
Love  unfeigned,  I  remain  thine  in  the  bonds  of  uni 
versal  love, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE, 

,4* 


LETTER  VII. 

PREJUDICE. 

HAVERHILL,  Mass.  7th  mo.  23,  1837. 

DEAR  FRIEND  : — Thou  sayest,  '  the  best  way  to 
make  a  person  like  a  thing  which  is  disagreeable,  is 
to  try  in  some  way  to  make  it  agreeable.'  So,  then, 
instead  of  convincing  a  person  by  sound  argument 
and  pointed  rebuke  that  sin  is  sin,  we  are  to  disguise 
the  opposite  virtue  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  him  like 
that,  in  preference  to  the  sin  he  had  so  dearly  loved. 
We  are  to  cheat  a  sinner  out  of  his  sin,  rather  than 
to  compel  him,  under  the  stings  of  conviction,  to  give 
it  up  from  deep-rooted  principle. 

If  this  is  the  course  pursued  by  ministers,  then  I 
wonder  not  at  the  kind  of  converts  which  are  brought 
into  the  church  at  the  present  day.  Thy  remarks 
on  the  subject  of  prejudice,  show  but  too  plainly  how 
strongly  thy  own  mind  is  imbued  with  it,  and  how 
little  thy  colonization  principles  have  done  to  extermi 
nate  this  feeling  from  thy  own  bosom.  Thou  sayest, 
'if  a  certain  class  of  persons  is  the  subject  of  unrea 
sonable  prejudice,  the  peaceful  and  Christian  way  of 
removing  it  would  be  to  endeavor  to  render  the  un- 


PREJUDICE.  43 

fortunate  persons  who  compose  this  class,  so  useful, 
so  humble,  so  unassuming,  &c.  that  prejudice  would 
be  supplanted  by  complacency  in  their  goodness,  and 
pity  and  sympathy  for  their  disabilities.'  '  If  the 
friends  of  the  blacks  had  quietly  set  themselves  to 
work  to  increase  their  intelligence,  their  usefulness, 
&c.  and  then  had  appealed  to  the  pity  and  benevo 
lence  of  their  fellow  citizens,  a  very  different  result 
would  have  appeared.'  Or  in  other  words,  if  one 
person  is  guilty  of  a  sin  against  another  person,  I  am 
to  let  the  sinner  go  entirely  unreproved,  but  to  per 
suade  the  injured  party  to  bear  with  humility  and 
patience  all  the  outrages  that  are  inflicted  upon  him, 
and  thus  try  to  soothe  the  sinner  *  into  complacency 
with  their  goodness'  in  *  bearing  all  things,  and  en 
during  all  things.'  Well,  suppose  I  succeed : — is 
that  sinner  won  from  the  evil  of  his  ways  by  princi 
ple  ?  No  !  Has  he  the  principle  of  love  implanted 
in  his  breast  ?  No  !  Instead  of  being  in  love  with 
the  virtue  exhibited  by  the  individual,  because  it  is 
virtue,  he  is  delighted  with  the  personal  convenience 
he  experiences  from  the  exercise  of  that  virtue.  He 
feels  kindly  toward  the  individual,  because  he  is  an 
instrument  of  his  enjoyment,  a  mere  means  to  promote 
his  wishes.  There  is  na  reformation  there  at  all. 
And  so  the  colored  people  are  to  be  taught  to  be  '  very 
humble'  and  *  unassuming,'  *  gentle'  and  *  meek,'  and 
then  the  lpity  and  generosity'  of  their  fellow  citizens  are 
to  be  appealed  to.  Now,  no  one  who  knows  anything 
of  the  influence  of  Abolitionists  over  the  colored  peo 
ple,  can  deny  that  it  has  been  peaceful  and  Christian ; 
had  it  not  been  so,  they  never  would  have  seen  thos* 


44  PREJUDICE. 

whom  they  had  regarded  as  their  best  friends,  mobbed 
and  persecuted,  without  raising  an  arm  in  their  de 
fence*  Look,  too,  at  the  rapid  spread  of  thorough 
temperance  principles  among  them,  and  their  moral 
reform  and  other  laudable  and  useful  associations ; 
look  at  the  rising  character  of  this  people,  the  new 
life  and  energy  which  have  been  infused  into  them. 
Who  have  done  it?  Who  have  exerted  by  far  the 
greatest  influence  on  these  oppressed  Americans  ?  I 
leave  thee  to  answer.  I  will  give  thee  one  instance 
of  this  salutary  influence.  In  a  letter  I-  received  from 
one  of  my  colored  sisters,  she  incidentally  makes  this 
remark: — 'Until  very  lately,  I  have  lived  and  acted 
more  for  myself  than  for  the  good  of  others.  I  con 
fess  that  I  am  wholly  indebted  to  the  Abolition  cause 
for  arousing  me  from  apathy  and  indifference,  and 
shedding  light  into  a  mind  which  has  been  too  long 
wrapt  in  selfish  darkness.'  The  Abolition  cause  has 
exerted  a  powerful  and  healthful  influence  over  this 
class  of  our  population,  and  it  has  been  done  by 
quietly  going  into  the  midst  of  them,  and  identifying 
ourselves  with  them. 

But  Abolitionists  are  complained  of,  because  they, 
at  the  same  time,  fearlessly  exposed  the  sin  of  the 
unreasonable  and  unholy  prejudice  which  existed 
against  these  injured  ones.  Thou  sayest  'that  re 
proaches,  rebukes  and  sneers  were  employed  to  con 
vince  the  whites  that  their  prejudices  were  sinful,  and 
icithout  any  just  cause.'  Without  any  just  cause  ! 
Couldst  thou  think  so,  if  thou  really  loved  thy  colored 
sisters  as  thyself?  The  unmeasured  abuse  which 
the  Colonization  Society  was  heaping  upon  this  de- 


PREJUDICE.         «  45 

spised  people,  was  no  just  cause  for  pointed  rebuke,  I 
suppose !  The  manner  in  which  they  are  thrust  into 
one  corner  of  our  meeting-houses,  as  if  the  plague- 
spot  was  on  their  skins  ;  the  rudeness  and  cruelty 
with  which  they  are  treated  in  our  hotels,  and  steam 
boats,  rail  road  cars  and  stages,  is  no  just  cause  of 
reproach  to  a  professed  Christian  community,  I  pre 
sume.  Well,  all  that  I  can  say  is,  that  I  believe  if 
Isaiah  or  James  were  now  alive,  they  would  pour 
their  reproaches  and  rebukes  upon  the  heads  and 
hearts  of  those  who  are  thus  despising  the  Lord's 
poor,  and  saying  to  those  whose  spirits  are  clothed 
by  God  in  the  *  vile  raiment'  of  a  colored  shin,  Stand 
thou  there  in  yonder  gallery,  or  sit  thou  here  in  '  the 
negro-pew.'  '  Sneers,'  too,  are  complained  of.  Have 
abolitionists  ever  made  use  of  greater  sarcasm  and 
irony  than  did  the  prophet  Elijah  ?  When  things 
are  ridiculous  as  well  as  wicked,  it  is  unreasonable 
to  expect  that  every  cast  of  mind  will  treat  them  with 
solemnity.  And  what  is  more  ridiculous  than  Amer 
ican  prejudice;  to  proscribe  and  persecute  men  and 
women,  because  their  complexions  are  of  a  darker  hue 
than  our  own?  Why, it  is  an  outrage  upon  common 
sense  ;  and  as  my  brother  Thomas  S.  Grimke  remark 
ed  only  a  few  weeks  before,  his  death,  '  posterity  will 
laugh  at  our  prejudices.'  Where  is  the  harm,  then, 
if  abolitionists  should  laugh  now  at  the  wicked  ab 
surdity  ? 

Thou  sayest,  '  this  tended  to  irritate  the  whites,  and 
to  increase  their  prejudices  against  the  blacks.'  The 
truth  always  irritates  the  proud,  impenitent  sinner, 
To  charge  abolitionists  with  this  irritation,  is  some." 


46  PREJUDICE. 

thing  like  the  charge  brought  against  the  English 
government  by  the  captain  of  the  slaver  I  told  thee  of 
in  my  second  letter,  who  threw  all  his  human  mer 
chandize  overboard,  in  order  to  escape  detection,  and 
then  charged  this  horrible  wholesale  murder  upon  the 
government ;  because,  said  he,  they  had  no  business 
to  make  a  law  to  hang  a  man  if  he  was  found  engaged 
in  the  slave  trade.  So  we  must  bear  the  guilt  of 
man's  angry  passions,  because-  the  truth  we  preach  is 
like  a  two-edged  sword,  cutting  through  the  bonds  of 
interest  on  the  one  side,  and  the  cords  of  caste  on  the 
other. 

As  to  our  increasing  the  prejudice  against  color, 
this  is  just  like  the  North  telling  us  that  we  have  in 
creased  the  miseries  of  the  slave.  Common  sense 
cries  out  against  the  one  as  well  as  the  other.  With 
regard  to  prejudice,  I  believe  the  truth  of  the  case  to 
be  this :  the  rights  of  the  colored  man  never  were  ad 
vocated  by  any  body  of  men  in  their  length  and 
breadth,  before  the  rise  of  the  Anti- Slavery  Society 
in  this  country.  The  propagation  of  these  ultra  prin 
ciples  has  produced  in  the  northern  States  exactly  the 
same  effect,  which  the  promulgation  of  the  doctrine 
of  immediate  emancipation  has  done  in  the  southern 
States.  It  has  developed  the  latent  principles  of  pride 
and  prejudice,  not  produced  them.  Hear  John  Green, 
a  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Kentucky,  in  reference 
to  abolition  efforts  having  given  birth  to  the  opposition 
against  emancipation  now  existing  in  the  South:  'I 
would  rather  say,  it  has  been  the  means  of  manifesting 
that  opposition,  which  previously  existed,  but  laid 
dormant  for  want  of  an  exciting  cause.'  And  just 


PREJUDICE.  47 

so  has  it  been  with  regard  to  prejudice  at  the  North 
— when  there  was  no  effort  to  obtain  for  the  colored 
man  his  rights  as  a  man,  as  an  American  citizen,  there 
was  no  opposition  exhibited,  because  it '  laid  dormant 
for  want  of  an  exciting  cause.' 

I  know  it  is  alleged  that  some  individuals,  ^vho 
treated  colored  people  with  the  greatest  kindness  a  few 
years  ago,  have,  since  abolition  movements,  had  their 
feelings  so  embittered  towards  them,  that  they  have 
withdrawn  that  kindness.  Now  I  would  ask,  could 
such  people  have  acted  from  principle  ?  Certainly 
not ;  or  nothing  that  others  could  do  or  say  would 
have  driven  them  from  the  high  ground  they  appear 
ed  to  occupy.  No,  my  friend,  they  acted  precisely 
upon  the  false  principle  which  thou  hast  recommend 
ed  ;  their  pity  was  excited,  their  sentiments  of  gene 
rosity  were  called  into  exercise,  because  they  regarded 
the  colored  man  as  an  unfortunate  inferior,  rather 
than  as  an  outraged  and  insulted  equal.  Therefore, 
as  soon  as  abolitionists  demanded  for  the  oppressed 
American  the  very  same  treatment,  upon  the  high 
ground  of  human  rights,  why,  then  it  was  instantly 
withdrawn,  simply  because  it  never  had  been  conceded 
on  the  right  ground ;  and  those  who  had  previously 
granted  it  became  afraid,  lest,  during  the  asra  of  abo 
lition  excitement,  persons  would  presume  they  were 
acting  on  the  fundamental  principle  of  abolitionism — 
the  principle  of  equal  rights,  irrespective  of  color  or 
condition,  instead  of  on  the  mere  principle  of  'pity 
and  generosity.' 

It  is  truly  surprising  to  find  a  professing  Christian 
excusing  the  unprincipled  opposition  exhibited  in  New 


48  PREJUDICE. 

Haven,  to  the  erection  of  a  College  for  young  men  of 
color.  Are  we  indeed  to  succumb  to  a  corrupt  public 
sentiment  at  the  North,  and  the  abominations  of  sla 
very  at  the  South,  by  refraining  from  asserting  the 
right  of  Americans  to  plant  a  literary  institution  in 
New  Haven,  or  New  York,  or  any  where  on  the 
American  soil  ?  Are  we  to  select '  some  retired  place,' 
where  there  would  be  the  least  prejudice  and  opposi 
tion  to  meet,  rather  than  openly  and  fearlessly  to  face 
the  American  monster,  who,  like  the"  horse-leach,  is 
continually  crying  give,  give,  and  whose  demands  are 
only  increased  by  compromise  and  surrender  ?  No  J 
there  is  a  spirit  abroad  in  this  country,  which  will  not 
consent  to  barter  principle  for  an  unholy  peace  ;  a 
spirit  which  seeks  to  be  '  pure  from  the  blood  of  all 
men,'  by  a  bold  and  Christian  avowal  of  truth  ;  a  spirit 
which  will  not  hide  God's  eternal  principles  of  right 
and  wrong,  but  will  stand  erect  in  the  storm  of  human 
passion,  prejudice  and  interest,  '  holding  forth  the  light 
of  truth  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  gene 
ration  ;'  a  spirit  which  will  never  slumber  nor  sleep, 
till  man  ceases  to  hold  dominion  over  his  fellow  crea 
tures,  and  the  trump  of  universal  liberty  rings  in  every 
forest,  and  is  re-echoed  by  every  mountain  and  rock. 
Art  thou  not  aware,  my  friend,  that  this  College 
was  projected  in  the  year  1831,  previous  to  the  forma 
tion  of  the  first  Anti-Slavery  Society,  which  was  or 
ganized  in  1832  ?  How,  then,  canst  thou  say  that  the 
circumstances  relative  to  it  occurred  '  at  a  time  when 
the  public  mind  was  excited  on  the  subject  ? '  I  feel 
quite  amused  at  the  presumption  which  thou  appearest 
to  think  was  exhibited  by  the  projectors  of  this  insti- 


PREJUDICE. 


49 


tution,  in  wishing  it  to  be  located  in  New   Haven, 
where  was  another  College  '  embracing  a  large  pro 
portion  of  southern  students,'  &c.   •  It  was  a  great  of 
fence,  to  be  sure,  for  colored  men   to  build  a  College 
by  the  walls  of  the  white  man's  '  College,  where  half 
the  shoeblacks  and  waiters  were  colored  men.''  -  But 
why  so  ?     The  other  half  of  the  shoe-blacks  and  wait 
ers  were  white,  I  presume  ;  and  if  these  white  servants 
could  be  satisfied  with  their  humble  occupation  under 
the  roof  of  Yale   College,  why  might  not  the  colored 
waiters  be  contented  also,  though. an  institution  for  the 
education  of  colored  Americans  might  presume  to  lift 
its  head  'beside  the  very  walls  of  this  College?'     Is 
it  possible  that   any  professing  Christian  can   calmly 
look  back   at  these   disgraceful   transactions,  and  tell 
me  that  such  opposition  was  manifested  '/or  the  best 
reasons  ?'     And  what  is  still  worse,  censure  the  pro 
jectors  of  a  literary  institution,  in  free,  republican,  en 
lightened  America,  because  they  did  not  meekly  yield 
to  '  such  reasonable  objections,'  and  refused  '  to  soothe 
the  feelings  and  apprehensions  of  those  who  had  been 
excited'  to   opposition  and  clamor  by  the  simple  fact 
that  some  American  born  citizens  wished  to  give  their 
children  a  liberal  education  in  a  separate  College,  only 
because  the  white  Americans  despised  their  brethren 
of  a   darker  complexion,  and  scorned  to  share  with 
them  the  privileges  of  Yale   College  ?     It  was  very 
wrong,  to  be  sure,  for  the  friends  of  the  oppressed 
American  to  consider  such  outrageous  conduct  *  as  a 
mark  of  the  force  of  sinful  prejudice  !'     Vastly  un 
charitable  !     Great   complaints   are   made    that   '  the 
worst  motives  were  ascribed  to  some  of  the  most  re- 
5 


50  PREJUDICE. 

spectable,  and  venerated,  and  pious  men  \vho  opposed 
the  measure.'  Wonderful  indeed,  that  men  should 
be  found  so  true  'to  their  principles,  as  to  dare  in  this 
age  of  sycophancy  to  declare  the  truth  to  those  who 
stand  in  high  places,  wearing  the  badges  of  office  or 
honor,  and  fearlessly  to  rebuke  the  puerile  and  un 
christian  prejudice  which  existed  against  their  colored 
brethren  !  - '  Pious  men  !'  Why,  I  would  ask,  how 
are  we  to  judge  of  men's  piety — by  professions  or 
products  ?  Do  men  gather  thorns  of  grapes,  or  thistles 
of  figs  ?  Certainly  not.  If,  then,  in  the  lives  of  men 
we  do  not  find  the  fruits  of  Christian  principle,  we 
have  no  right,  according  to  our  Saviour's  criterion, 
'by  their  fruits  ye .  shall  know  them,'  to  suppose  that 
men  are  really  pious  who  can  be  perseveringly  guilty 
of  despising  others,  and  denying  them  equal  rights, 
because  they  have  colored  skins.  '  A  great  deal 
was  said  and  done  that  was  calculated  to  throw 
the  community  into  an  angry  ferment.'  Yes,  and  I 
suppose  the  friends  of  the  colored  man  were  just  as 
guilty  as  was  the  great  Apostle,  who,  by  the  angry, 
and  excited,  and  prejudiced  Jews,  was  accused  of 
being  '  a  pestilent  fellow  and  a  mover  of  sedition,'  be 
cause  he  declared  himself  called  to  preach  the  ever 
lasting  gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  whom  they  considered 
as  '  dogs,'  and  utterly  unworthy  of  being  placed  on  the 
same  platform  of  human  rights  and  a  glorious  immor 
tality.  Thy  friend, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  VET, 

VINDICATION    OF   ABOLITIONISTS. 

GROTON,  Mass.  6th  monk,  1837".. 

DEAR  FRIEND  : — In  my  last,  I  commented  upon  the 
opposition  to  the  establishment  of  a  College  in  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  far  the  education  of  colored  young 
men.  The  same  remarks  are  applicable  to  the  perse 
cutions  of  the  Canterbury  School.  I  leave  thee  and 
our  readers  to  apply  them.  I  cannot  help  thinking 
how  strange  and  unaccountable  thy  soft  excuses  fer 
tile  sins  of  prejudice  will  appear  to  the  next  genera 
tion,  if  thy  book  ever  reach  their  eye. 

As  to  Cincinnati  having  been'  chosen  as  the  city  in 
which  the  Philanthropist  should  be  published  after  the 
retreat  of  its  editor  from  Kentucky,  thou  hast  not  been 
'•sufficiently  informed,'  for  James  G.  Birney  pursued 
exactly  the  course  which  thou  hast  marked  out  as  the 
most  prudent  and  least  offensive.  He  edited  his  paper, 
at  New  Richmond,  in  Ohio,  for  nearly  three  months 
before  he  went  to-  Cincinnati,  and  did  not  go  there 
until  the  excitement  appeared  to  have  subsided. 

And  so,  thou  thinkest  that  abolitionists  are  account 
able  for  the  outrages  which  have  been,  committed; 


52  VINDICATION       / 

'against  them ;  they  are  the  tempters,  and  are  held  re 
sponsible  by  God,  as  well  as  the  tempted.  Wilt  thou 
tell  me,  who  was  responsible  for  the  mob  which  went 
with  swords  and  staves  to  take  an  innocent  man  be 
fore  the  tribunals  of  Annas  and  Pilate,  some  1800 
years  ago  ?  And  who  was  responsible  for  the  uproar 
at  Ephesus,  the  insurrection  at  Athens,  and  the  tu 
mults  at  Lystra  and  Iconium  ?  Were  I  a  mobocrat,  I 
should  want  no  better  excuse  than  thou  hast  furnished 
for  such  outrages.  -Wonderful  indeed,  if,  in  free 
America,  her  citizens  cannot  choose  where  they  will 
erect  their  literary  institutions  and  presses,  to  advocate 
the  self-evident  truths  of  our  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  !  And  still  more  wonderful,  that  a  New  Eng 
land  woman  should,  after  years  of  reflection,  deliber 
ately  write  a  book  to  condemn  the  advocates  of  liberty, 
and  plead  excuses  for  a  relentless  prejudice  against 
her  colored  brethren  and  sisters,  and  for  the  perse 
cutors  of  those,  who,  according  to  the  opinion  of  a 
Southern  member  of  Congress,  are  prosecuting  { the 
only  plan  that  can  ever  overthrow  slavery  at  the 
South.'  I  am  glad,jfor  thy  own  sake,  that  thou  hast 
exculpated  abolitionists  from  the  charge  of  the  '  delib 
erate  intention  of  fomenting  illegal  acts  of  violence.' 
Would  it  not  have  been  still  better,  if  thou  hadst  spared 
the  remarks  which  rendered  such  an  explanation  ne 
cessary  ? 

I  find  that  thou  wilt  not  allow  of  the  comparison 
often  drawn  between  the  effects  of  Christianity  on  the 
hearts  of  those  who  obstinately  rejected  it,  and  those 
of  abolitionism  on  the  hearts  of  people  of  the  present 
day.  Thou  sayest,  *  Christianity  is  a  system  of  per- 


OF   ABOLITIONISTS.  53 

suasion,  tending  by  kind  and  gentle  influences  to 
make  men  ivilling  to  leave  their  sins.'  Dost  thou 
suppose  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  deemed  it  was 
very  kind  and  gentle  in  its  influences,  when  our  holy 
Redeemer  called  them  '  a  generation  of  vipers,'  or 
when  he  preached  that  sermon  'full  of  harshness,  un- 
charitableness,  rebuke  and  denunciation,'  recorded  hi 
the  xxiii.  chapter  of  Matthew  ?  But  I  shall  be  told 
that  Christ  knew  the  hearts  of  all  men,  and  therefore 
it  was  right  for  him  to  use  terms  which  mere  human 
beings  never  ought  to  employ.  Read,  then,  the  pro 
phecies  of  Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  and  others,  and  also  the 
Epistles  of  the  New  Testament.  They  employed  the 
most  offensive  terms  on  many  occasions,  and  the 
sharpest  rebukes,  knowing  full  well  that  there  are 
some  sinners  who  can  be  reached  by  nothing  but 
death-thrusts  at  their  consciences.  An  anecdote  of 
JOHN  RICHARDSON,  who  was  remarkable  for  his  urban* 
ity  of  manners,  occurs  to  me.  He  one  day  preached 
a  sermon  in  a  country  town,  in  wrhich  he  made  use  of 
some  hard  language ;  a  friend  reproved  him  after 
meeting,  and  inquired  whether  he  did  not  know  that 
hard  wood  was  split  by  soft  knocks.  Yes,  said  Rich 
ardson,  but  I  also  know  that  there  is  some  wood  so 
rotten  at  the  heart,  that  nothing  but  tremendously  hard 
blows  will  ever  split  it  open.  Ah  !  John,  replied  the 
elder,  I  see  thou  understandest  how  to  do  thy  master's 
work.  Now,  I  believe  this  nation  is  rotten  at  the 
heartland  that  nothing  but  the  most  tremendous  blows 
with  the  sledge-hammer  of  abolition  truth,  could  ever 
have  broken  the  false  rest  which  we  had  taken  up  for 

ourselves  on  the  very  brink  of  ruin, 
6* 


l>4  VINDICATION 

'  Abolitionism,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  system  of  co» 
•ercion  by  public  opinion.'  By  this  assertion,  I  pre 
sume  thou  '  hast  not  been  correctly  informed'  as  to 
the  reasons  which  have  induced  abolitionists  to  put 
forth  all  their  energies  to  rectify  public  opinion.  It 
is  not  because  we  wish  to  wield  this  public  opinion 
like  a  rod  of  iron  over  the  heads  of  slaveholders,  to 
coerce  them  into  an  abandonment  of  the  system  of 
slavery  ;  not  at  all.  We  are  striving  to  purify  public 
opinion,  first,  because  as  long  as  the  North  is  so  much 
involved  in  the  guilt  of  slavery,  by  its  political,  com* 
mercial,  religious,  and  social  connexion  with  the 
South,  her  own  citizens  need  to  be  converted.  Second, 
because  \ve  know  that  when  public  opinion  is  rectified 
at  the  North,  it  will  throw  a  flood  of  light  from  its 
million  of  reflecting  surfaces  upon  the  heart  and  soul 
of  the  South.  The  South  sees  full  well  at  what  we 
&re  aiming,  and  she  is  so  unguarded  as  to  acknowl 
edge  that  '  if  she  does  not  resist  the  danger  in  its 
inception,  it  will  soon  become  irresistible.'  She  ex 
claims  in  terror,  'the  truth  is,  the  moral  power  of  the 
world  is  against  us  ;  it  is  idle  to  disguise  it.'  The 
fact  is,  that  the  slaveholders  of  the  South,  and  their 
northern  apologists,  have  been  overtaken  by  the  storm 
of  free  discussion,  and  are  something  like  those  who 
go  down  to  the  sea  and  do  business  in  the  great 
waters  :  '  they  reel  to  and  fro,  and  stagger  like  a 
drunken  man,  and  are  at  their  wit's  end.' 

Our  view  of  the  doctrine  of  expediency,  thou  art 
pleased  to  pronounce  '  wrong  and  very  pprnicious  in 
its  tendency.'  Expediency  is  emphatically  the  doc 
trine  by  which  the  children  of  this  world  are  wont  to 


OF  ABOLITIONISTS. 

guide  their  steps,  whilst  the  rejection  of  it  as  a  rule 
of  action  exactly  accords  with  the  divine  injunction, 
to  '  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.'  Thy  doctrine  that 

•  the  wisdom  ami  rectitude  of  a  given  course  depend 
entirely  on  the  probabilities  of  success?  is  not  the  doc 
trine  of  the  Bible.     According  to  this  principle, "how 
absurd  was  the  conduct  of  Moses  !    What  probability 
of  success  was  there  that  he  could  move  the  heart  of 
Pharaoh  ?     None    at   all ;  and   thus  did   he   reason 
when  he  said,    '  Who  am   I,   that  I   should  go  unto 
Pharaoh  ?'    And  again,  '  Behold,  they  will  not  believe- 
me,  nor  hearken   unto    my  voice.'     The  success  of 
Moses's  mission  in  persuading  the  king  of  Egypt  to 

*  let  the  people  go,'  was   not  involved  in  the  duty  of 
obedience  to  the  divine  command.     Neither  was  the 
success  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and   others  of  the  pro 
phets  who  were  singularly  unsuccessful  in  their  mis 
sion  to  the  Jews.     All  who  see  the  path  of  duty  plain 
before  them,  are   bound    to    walk  in  that  path,  end 
where  it  may.     They  then  can  .realize  the  meaning 
of  the   Apostle,  when  he   exhorts  Christians  to  cast 
all  their  burden  on  the  Lord,  with  the  promise  that 
He  would  sustain  them.     This  is  walking  by  faith, 
not  by  sight.     In  the  work  in  which  abolitionists  are 
engaged,  they  are  compelled  to  *  walk  by  faith  ;'  they 
feel  called  upon    to    preach  the  truth  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  to  lift   up  their  voices  like  a  trumpet, 
to  show  the  people  their  transgressions  and  the  house 
of  Jacob  their  sins.    The  success  of  this  mission,  they 
have  no  more  to  do  with,  than  had  Moses  and  Aaron, 
Jeremiah   or   Isaiah,  with  that  of  theirs.     Whether 
the  South  will  be  saved  by  Anti-Slavery  efforts,  is 


66  VINDICATION 

riot  a  question  for  us  to  settle — and  in  some  of  OUT 
hearts,  the  hope  of  its  salvation  has  utterly  gone  out. 
All  nations  have  been  punished 'for  oppression,  arid, 
why  should  ours  escape  ?  Our  light,  and  high  pro 
fessions,  and  the  age  in  which  we  live,  convict  us 
not  only  of  enormous  oppression,  but  of  the  vilest 
hypocrisy.  It  may  be  that  the  rejection  of  the  truth 
which  we  are  now  pouring  in  upon  the  South,  may 
be"  the  final  filling  up  of  their  iniquities,  just  previous 
to  the  bursting  of  God's  exterminating  thunders  over 
the  Sodoms  and  Gomorrahs,  the  Admahs  and  Ze- 
boims  of  America.  The  result  of  our  labors  is  hidden 
from  our  eyes ;  whether  the  preaching  of  Anti-Sla 
very  truth  is  to  be  a  savor  of  life  unto  life,  or  of 
death  unto  death  to  this  nation,  we  know  not ;  and 
we  have  no  more  to  do  with  it,  than  had  the  Apostle 
Paul,  when  he  preached  Christ  to  the  people  of  his 

day. 

If  American  Slavery  goes  down  in  blood,  it  will 
but  verify  the  declarations  of  those  who  uphold  it.  A 
committee  of  the  North  Carolina  Legislature  ac 
knowledged  this  to  an  English  Friend  ten  years  ago. 
Jefferson  more  than  once  uttered  his  gloomy  fore 
bodings  ;  and  the  Legislators  of  Virginia,  in  1832, 
declared  that  if  the  opportunity  of  escape,  through 
the  means  of  emancipation,  were  rejected,  *  though 
they  might  save  themselves,  they  would  rear  their  pos 
terity  to  the  business  of  the  dagger  and  the  torch.'  I 
have  myself  known  several  families  to  leave  the 
South,  solely  from  a  fear  of  insurrection  ;  and  this 
twelve  and  fourteen  years  ago,  long  before  any  Anti- 
Slavery  efforts  were  made  in  this  country*  And 


*  .      -  •  i  '-.*• 

OF   ABOLITIONISTS.  57 

yet,  I  presume,  if  through  the  cold-hearted  apathy  and 
obstinate  opposition  of  the  North,  the  South  should 
hecome  strengthened  in  her  desperate  determination 
to  hold  on  to  her  outraged  victims,  until  they  are 
goaded  to  despair,  and  if  the  Lord  in  his  wrath  pours 
out  the  vials  of  his  vengeance  upon  the  slave  States, 
why  then,  Abolitionists  will  have  to  bear  all  the 
blame.  Thou  hast  drawn  a  frightful  picture  of  the 
final  issue  of  Anti-Slavery  efforts,  as  thou  art  pleased 
to  call  it ;  but  none  of  these  things  move  me/  for 
with  just  as  much  truth  mayest  thou  point  to  the  land 
of  Egypt,  blackened  by  God's  avenging  fires,  and  ex 
claim,  '  Behold  the  issue  of  Moses's  mission.'  Nay, 
verily  !  See  in  that  smoking,  and  blood-drenched 
house  of  bondage,  the  consequences  of  oppression, 
disobedience,  and  an  obstinate  rejection  of  truth,  and 
light,  and  love.  What  had  Moses  to  do  with  those 
judgment  plagues,  except  to  lift  his  rod  ?  And  if 
the  South  soon  finds  her  winding  sheet  in  garments 
rolled  in  blood,  it  will  not  be  because  of  what  the 
North  has  told  her,  but  because,  like  impenitent  Egypt, 
she  hardened  her  heart  against  it,  whilst  the  voices 
of  some  of  her  own  children  were  crying  in  agony, 
'  O  !  that  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  in  this  thy 
day,  the  things  which  belong  to  thy  peace  ;  but  now 
they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes.' 

Thy  friend,  A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  IX, 

EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

BROOELINE,  Mass.  8th  month,  17 'th,  1837, 
DEAR  FRIEND  : — Thou  sayest '  There  are  cases  also, 
where  differences  in  age,  and  station,  and  character, 
forbid  all  interference  to  modify  the  conduct  and-char- 
^acter  of  others.'  Let  us  bring  this  to  the  only  touch 
stone  by  which  Christians  should  try  their  principles 
of  action. 

How  was  it  when  God  designed  to  rid  his  people 
Mout  of  the  hands  of  the  Egyptian  monarch  ?  Was  his 
station  so  exalted  '  as  to  forbid  all  interference  to  mod 
ify  his  character  and  conduct  ?'  And  who  was  sent  to 
interfere  with  his  conduct  towards  a  stricken  people  ? 
Was  it  some  brother  monarch  of  exalted  station, 
whose  elevated  rank  might  serve  to  excuse  such  in 
terference  *  to  modify  his  conduct  and  character?' 
No.  It  was  -an  obscure  shepherd  of  Midian's  desert ; 
for  let  us  remember,  that  Moses,  in  pleading  the  cause 
of  the  Israelites,  identified  himself  with  the  loivest^nd 
•meanest  of  the  King's  subjects.  Ah  !  he  was  one  of 
£hat  despised  caste ;  for,  although  brought  up  as  the 
.•son  of  the  princess,  yet  he  had  left  Egypt  as  an  oui- 


•  :^gp 

EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH.  59 

law.  He  had  committed  the  crime  of  murder,  and 
fled  because  the  monarch  '  sought  to  slay  him,'  This 
exiled  outlaw  is  the  instrument  chosen  by  God  to  vin 
dicate  the  cause  of  bis  oppressed  people.  Moses  was 
in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh  as  much  an  object  of  scorn, 
as  Garrison  now  is  to  the  tyrants  of  America.  -Some 
seem  to  think,  that  great  moral  enterprises  can  be 
made  honorable  only  by  Doctors  of  Divinity,  and 
Presidents  of  Colleges,  engaging  in  them  :  when  all 
powerful  Truth  cannot  be  dignified  by  any  man,  but 
it  dignifies  and  ennobles  all  who  embrace  it.  It  lifts 
the  beggar  from  the  dunghill,  and  sets  him  among 
princes.  Whilst  it  needs  no  great  names  to  bearA 
onward  to  its  glorious  consummation,  it  is  continually 
making  great  characters  out  of  apparently  mean  and 
unpromising  materials  ;  and  in  the  intensity  of  its 
piercing  rays,  revealing  to  the  amazement  of  many, 
the  insignificance  and  moral  littleness  of  those  who 
fill  the  highest  stations  in  Church  and  State, 

But  take  a  few  more  examples  from  the  bible,  of 
those  in  high  stations  being  reproved  by  men  of  in 
ferior  rank.  Look  at  David  rebuked  by  Nathan, 
Ahab  and  Jezebel  by  Elijah  and  Micaiah.  What, 
too,  was  the  conduct  of  Daniel  and  Shadrach,  Me- 
shack  and  Abednego,  but  &  practical  rebuke  of  Darius 
and  Nebuchadnezzar?  And  who  were  these  men, 
apart  from  these  acts  of  daring  interference  ?  They 
were  the  Lord's  prophets,  I  shall  be  told ;  but  what 
cared  those  monarchs  for  this  fact  ?  How  much  credit 
did  they  give  them  for  holding  this  holy  office  1  None. 
And  why  1  Because  all  but  David  were  impenitent 
sinners,  and  rejected  with  scorn  all  '  interference  to 


60  EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

modify  their  conduct  or  characters.'     Reformers  are 
rarely  estimated    in   the    age    in    which    they   live, 
whether  they  be  called  prophets  or  apostles,  or  aboli 
tionists,  or  what  not.     They  stand    on   the   rock  of 
Truth,  and   calmly  look    down    upon  the   careering 
thunder-clouds,  the  tempest,  and  the   roaring  waves, 
because  they  well  know  that  where  the  atmosphere 
is  surcharged   with    pestilential   vapors,  a   conflict  of 
the  elements  must  take  place,  before  it  can  be  purified 
by  that  moral  electricity,  beautifully  typified  by  the 
cloven  tongues  that  sat  upon  each  of  the  heads  of  the 
120  disciples  who  were  convened  on  the  day  of  Pen 
tecost.     Such  men  and  women  expect  to  be  '  blamed 
and  opposed,  because  their  measures  are  deemed  in 
expedient,  and  calculated  to   increase  rather  than  di 
minish  the  evil  to  be  cured.'     They  know  full  well, 
that  intellectual  greatness  cannot  give  moral  percep 
tion — therefore,  those  who  have  no  clear  views  of  the 
irresistilleness  of  moral  power,  cannot  see  the  efficacy 
of  moral  means.     They  say  with  the   apostle,  '  The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  ;  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  :  neither  can 
he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned.' 
We  know  full  well,  that  northern   men  and  women 
laugh   at  the   inefficacy  of  Anti-Slavery  measures  ; 
but  slaveholders  never  have  ridiculed  them  :  not  that 
their  moral  perceptions  are  any  clearer  than  those  of 
our  northern   opponents,  but  where   men's  interests 
and  lust  of  power  are  immediately  affected  by  moral 
effort,  they  instinctively  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  tremble 
for  the  result. 

But  suppose  even  that  our  measures  were  calcu- 


EFFECT    OF,  ABOLITIONISM  61 

lated  to  increase  the  evils  of  slavery.  The  measures 
adopted  by  Moses,  and  sanctioned  by  God,  increased 
the  burdens  of  the  Israelites.  Were  they,  therefore, 
inexpedient  ?  And  yet,  if  our  measures  produce  a 
similar  effect,  0  then  !  they  are  very  inexpedient  in 
deed.  The  truth  is,  when  we  look  at  Moses  and  his 
measures,  we  look  at  them  in  connection  with  the 
emancipation  of  the  Israelites.  The  ultimate  and 
glorious  success  of  the  measures  proves  their  wisdom 
and  expediency.  But  when  Anti-Slavery  measures 
are  looked  at  now,  we  see  them  long  before  the  end 
is  accomplished.  We  see,  according  to  thy  account, 
the  burdens  increased;  but  we  do  not  yet  seethe 
triumphant  march  through  the  Red  Sea,  nor  do  we 
hear  the  song  of  joy  and  thanksgiving  which  ascended 
from  Israel's  redeemed  host.  But  canst  thou  not 
give  us  twenty  years  to  complete  our  work  ?  Clark- 
son,  thy  much  admired  model,  worked  twenty  years; 
and  the  benevolent  Colonization  Society  has  been  in 
operation  twenty  years.  Just  give  us  as  long  a  time, 
or  half  that  time,  and  then  thou  wilt  be  a  far  better 
judge  of  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  our  meas 
ures.  Then  thou  wilt  be  able  to  look  at  them  in 
connection  with  their  success  or  their  failure,  and 
instead  of  writing  a  book  on  thy  opinions  and  my 
opinions,  thou  canst  write  a  history. 

I  cannot  agree  with  thee  in  the  sentiment,  that  the 
station  of  a  nurserymaid  makes  it  inexpedient  for  her 
to  turn  reprover  of  the  master  who  employs  her. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  modern  aristocracy,  not  of 
primitive  Christianity ;  for  ecclesiastical  history  in 
forms  us  that,  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  kings 
6 


.:-••.    &  v; 

62  EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

were  converted  through  the  faithful  and  solemn  re 
bukes  of  their  slaves  and  captives.  I  have  myself 
been  reproved  by  a  slave,  and  I  thanked  her,  and  still 
thank  her  for  it.  Think  how  this  doctrine  robs  the 
nursery  maid  of  her  responsibility,  and  shields  the 
master  from  reproof;  for  it  may  be  that  she  alone 
has  seen  him  ill-treat  his  wife.  Now  it  appears  to 
me,  so  far  from  her  station  forbidding  all  interference 
to  modify  the  character  and  conduct  of  her  employer, 
that  that  station  peculiarly  qualifies  her  for  the  difficult 
and  delicate  task,  because  nursery  maids  often  know 
secrets  of  oppression,  which  no  other  persons  are  fully 
acquainted  with.  For  my  part,  I  believe  it  is  now 
the  duty  of  the  slaves  of  the  South  to  rebuke  their 
masters  for  their  robbery,  oppression  and  crime  ;  and 
so  far  from  believing  that  such  '  reproof  would  do  no 
good,  but  only  evil,'  I  think  it  would  be  attended  by 
the  happiest  results  in  the  main,  though  I  doubt  not 
it  would  occasion  some  instances  of  severe  personal 
suffering.  No  station  or  character  can  destroy  indi 
vidual  responsibility,  in  the  matter  of  reproving  sin. 
I  feel  that  a  slave  has  a  right  to  rebuke  me,  and  so 
has  the  vilest  sinner  ;  and  the  sincere,  humble  Chris 
tian  will  be  thankful  for  rebuke,  let  it  come  from 
whom  it  may.  Such,  I  am  confident,  never  would 
think  it  inexpedient  for  their  chamber  maids  to  ad 
minister  it,  but  would  endeavor  to  profit  by  it. 

Thou  askest  very  gravely,  why  James  G.  Birney 
did. not  go  quietly  into  the  southern  States,  and  col 
lect  facts?  Indeed!  Why  should  he  go  to  the 
South  to  collect  facts,  when  he  had  lived  there  forty 
years  ?  Thou  mayest  with  just  as  much  propriety 


-       EFEECT    ON    THE    SOUTH.  63 

ask  me,  why  I  do  not  go  to  the  South  to  collect  facts. 
The  answer  to  both  questions  is  obvious : — We  have 
lived  at  the  South,  as  integral  parts  of  the  system  of 
slavery,  and  therefore  we  know  from  practical  obser 
vation  and  sad  experience,  quite  enough  about  it  al 
ready.  I  think  it  would  be  absurd  for  either  of  us  to 
spend  our  time  in  such  a  way.  And  even  if  J.  G. 
Birney  had  not  lived  at  the  South,  why  should  he 
go  there  to  collect  facts,  when  the  Anti-Slavery  presses 
are  continually  throwing  them  out  before  the  public? 
Look,  too,  at  the  Slave  Laws  !  What  more  do  we 
need  to  show  us  the  bloody  hands  and  iron  heart  of 
Slavery  ? 

Thou  sayest  on  the  89th  page  of  thy  book,  *  Every 
avenue  of  approach  to  the  South  is  shut.  No  paper, 
pamphlet,  or  preacher,  that  touches  on  that  topic,  is 
admitted  in  their  bounds.'  Thou  art  greatly  mis 
taken  ;  every  avenue  of  approach  to  the  South  is  not 
shut.  The  American  Anti- Slavery  Society  sends 
between  four  and  five  hundred  of  its  publications  to 
the  South  by  mail,  to  subscribers,  or  as  exchange 
papers.  One  slaveholder  •  in  North  Carolina,  not 
long-  since,  bought  $60  worth  of  our  pamphlets,  &c. 
which  he  distributed  in  the  slave  States.  Another 
•slaveholder  from  Louisiana,  made  a  large  purchase 
of  our  publications  last  fall,  which  he  designed  to 
distribute  among  professors  of  religion  who  held 
slaves.  To  these  I  may  add  another  from  South 
Carolina,  another  from  Richmond.  Virginia,  numbers 
from  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri,  and  others 
from  New  Orleans,  besides  persons  connected  with 
at  least  three  Colleges  and  Theological  Seminaries 


64  EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

in.  slave  States,  have  applied  for  our  publications  for 
their  own  use,  and  for  distribution.  Within  a  few 
weeks,  the  South  Carolina  Delegation  in  Congress 
L.r/c  sent  on  an  order  to  the  publishing  Agent  of  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  for  all  the  principal 
bound  volumes,  pamphlets,  and  periodicals  of  the 
Society.  At  the  same  time,  they  addressed  a  very 
courteous  letter  to  J.  G.  Birney,  the  Corresponding 
Secretary,  propounding  nearly  a  score  of  queries, 
embracing  the  principles,  designs,  plans  of  operation, 
progress  and  results  of  the  Society.  I  know  in  the 
large  cities,  such  as  Charleston  and  Richmond,  that 
Anti-Slavery  papers  are  not  suffered  to  reach  their 
destination  through  the  mail ;  but  it  is  not  so  in  the 
smaller  towns.  But  even  in  the  cities,  I  doubt  not 
they  are  read  by  the  postmasters  and  others.  The 
South  may  pretend  that  she  will  not  read  our  papers, 
but  it  is  all  pretence  ;  the  fact  is,  she  is  very  anxious 
to  see  what  we  are  doing,  so  that  when  the  mail-bags 
were  robbed  in  Charleston  in  1835,  /  know  that  the 
robbers  were  very  careful  to  select  a  few  copies  of 
each  of  the  publications  before  they  made  the  bonfire, 
and  that  these  were  handed  round  in  a  private  way 
through  the  city,  so  that  they  were  exte?isivdy  read. 
This  fact  I  had  from  a  friend  of  mine  who  was  in 
Charleston  at  the  time,  and  read  the  publications 
himself.  My  relations  also  wrote  me  word,  that  they 
had  seen  and  read  them. 

In  order  to  show  that  our  discussions  and  publica 
tions  have  already  produced  a  great  effect  upon  many 
individuals  in  the  slave  States,!  subjoin  the  following 
detail  of  facts  and  testimony  now  in  my  possession. 


EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH.  65 

My  sister,  S.  M.  Grimke,  has  just  received  a  letter 
from  a  Southerner  residing  in  the  far  South,  in  which 
he  says,  '  On  the  4th  of  July,  the  friends  of  the  op 
pressed  met  and  contributed  six  or  eight  dollars,  to 
obtain  some  copies  of  Gerrit  Smithes  letter,  and  some 
other  pamphlets  for  our  own  benefit  and  that  o~f  the 
vicinity.  The  leaven,  we  think,  is  beginning  to 
work,  and  we  hope  that  it  will  ere  long  purify  the 
whole  mass  of  corruption.' 

An  intelligent  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
who  resides  in  North  Carolina,  was  recently  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  told  the  editor  of  Zion's 
Watchman,  that  *  our  publications  were  read  with 
great  interest  at  the  South — that  there  was  great 
curiosity  there  to  see  them.'  A  bookseller  also  in 
one  of  the  most  southern  States,  only  a  few  months 
ago,  ordered  a  package  of  our  publications.  And 
within  a  very  short  time,  an  influential  slaveholder 
from  the  far  South,  who  called  at  the  Anti-Slavery 
Office  in  New  York,  said  he  had  had  misgivings  on 
the  subject  ever  since  the  formation  of  the  American 
Society — that  he  saw  some  of  our  publications  at  the 
South  three  years  ago,  and  is  now  convinced  and  has 
emancipated  his  slaves. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Union  Herald,  a  clergyman, 
and  a  graduate  of  one  of  the  colleges  of  Kentucky,- 
says,  '  I  find  in  this  State  many  who  are  decidedly 
opposed  to  slavery — but  few  indeed  take  the  ground 
that  it  is  right.  I  trust  the  cause  of  human  rights  is 
onward — weekly,  I  receive  two  copies  of  the  Emanci 
pator,  which  I  send  out  as  battering  rams,  to  beat 
down  the  citadel  of  oppression.'  In  a  letter  to  James 
6* 


66  EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH. 

G.  Birney,  from  a  gentleman  in  a  slave  State,  we 
find  this  declaration  :  '  Your  paper,  the  Philanthro 
pist,  is  regularly  distributed  here,  and  as  yet  works 
no  incendiary  results ;  and  indeed,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn,  general  satisfaction  is  here  expressed,  both  as 
to  the  temper  and  spirit  of  the  paper,  and  no  disap 
probation  as  to  the  results.'  At  an  Anti-Slavery 
meeting  last  fall  in  Philadelphia,  a  gentleman  from 
Delaware  was  present,  who  rose  and  encouraged 
Abolitionists  to  go  on,  and  said  that  he  could  assure 
them  the  influence  of  their  measures  was  felt  there, 
and  their  principles  were  gaining  ground  secretly  and 
silently.  The  subject,  he  informed  them,  was  discuss 
ed  there,  and  he  believed  Anti-Slavery  lectures  could 
be  delivered  there  with  safety,  and  would  produce 
important  results.  Since  that  time,  a  lecturer  has 
been  into  that  State,  and  a  State  Society  has  been 
formed,  the  secretary  of  which  was  the  first  editor  of 
the  Emancipator,  and  is  now  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  the  capital  of  the  State.  The  North  Caro 
lina  Watchman,  published  at  Salisbury,  in  an  article 
on  the  subject  of  Abolition,  has  the  following  remarks 
of  the  editor  :  *  It  [the  abolition  party]  is  the  growing 
party  al  the  North  :  we  are  inclined  to  believe,  that 
there  is  even  more  of  it  at  the  South,  than  prudence 
will  permit  to  be  openly  avowed.'  It  rejoices  our 
hearts  to  find  that  there  are  some  southerners  who 
feel  and  acknowledge  the  infatuation  of  the  politi 
cians  of  the  South,  and  the  philanthropy  of  abolition 
ists.  The  Maryville  Intelligencer  of  1836,  exclaims, 
*  What  sort  of  madness,  produced  by  a  jaundiced  and 
distorted  conception  of  the  feelings  and  motives  by 


EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH. 

which  northern  abolitionists  are  actuated,  can  induce 
the  southern  political  press  to  urge  a  severance  of  the 
tie  that  binds  our  Union  together  ?  To  offer  rewards 
for  those  very  individuals  who  stand  as  mediators  beb 
tween  masters  and  slaves,  urging  the  one  to  be  obe 
dient,  and  the  other  to  do  justice  ? ' 

A  southern  Minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  at  the  session  of  the  New  York  Annual  Con1- 
ference,  in  June  of  1836,  said  :  '«  Donl  give  up  Abo 
litionism — don't  bow  down  to  slavery.  You  have 
thousands  at  the  South  who  are  secretly  praying  for 
you.'  In  a  subsequent  conversation  with  the  same 
individual,  he  stated,  that  the-  South  is  not  that  unit 
of  which  the  pro-slavery  party  boast — there  is  a  di 
versity  of  opinion  among  them  in  reference  to  slavery, 
and  the  REIGN  OF  TERROR  alone  suppresses  the  free 
expression  of  sentiment.  That  there  are  thousands 
who  believe  slaveholding  to  be  sinful,  who  secretly 
wish  the  abolitionists  success,  and  believe  God  will 
bless  their  efforts.  That  the  ministers  of  the  gospel 
and  ecclesiastical  bodies  who  indiscriminately  de 
nounce  the  abolitionists,  without  doing  any  thing 
themselves  to  remove  slavery,  have  not  the  thanks  of 
thousands  at  the  South,  but  on  the  contrary  are  viewed 
as  taking  sides  with  slaveholders,  and  recreant  to  the 
principles  of  their  oivn  profession. —  Zion's  Watch 
man,  November,  1836. 

The  Christian  Mirror,  published  in  Portland,  Maine, 
has  the  following  letter  from  a  minister  who  has  lately 
taken  up  his  abode  in  Kentucky,  to  a  friend  in  Maine  : 
— '  Several  ministers  have  recently  left  the  State,  I 
believe,  on  account  of  slavery ;  and  many  of  the  mem- 


63  EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

bers  of  churches,  as  I  have  understood,  have  sold  their 
property,  and  removed  to  the  free  States.  Many  are 
becoming  more  and  more  convinced  of  the  evil  and  sin 
of  slavery,  and  would  gladly  rid  themselves  and  the 
community  of  this  scourge ;  and  I  feel  confident  that 
influences  are  already  in  operation,  which,  if  properly 
directed  and  regulated  by  the  principles  of  the  gospel, 
may  '  break  every  yoke  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free' 
in  Kentucky. 

In  1st  month,  1835,  when  Theodore  D.  Weld  was 
lecturing  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  at  the  close  of 
one  of  his  evening  lectures,  a  man  sought  him  through 
the  crowd,  and  extending  his  hand  to  him  through  his 
friends,  by  whom,  he  was  surrounded,  solicited  him  to 
step  aside  with  him  for  a  moment.  After  they  had 
retired  by  themselves,  the  gentleman  said  to  him  with 
great  earnestness,  *  I  am  a  slaveholder  from  Maryland 
— you  are  right — the  doctrine  you  advocate  is  truth.'1 
Why,  then,  said  the  lecturer,  do  you  not  emancipate 
your  slaves  ?  '  Because,'  said  the  Marylander,  '  I 
have  not  religion  enough' — He  was  a  professing 
Christian—'  I  dare  not  subject  myself  to  the  torrent  of 
opposition  which,  from  the  present  state  of  public  sen 
timent,  would  be  poured  upon  me  ;  but  do  you  aboli 
tionists  go  on,  and  you  will  effect  a  change  in  public 
sentiment,  which  will  render  it  possible  and  easy  for 
us  to  emancipate  our  slaves.  I  know,'  continued  he, 
*  a  great  many  slaveholders  in  my  State,  who  stand 
on  precisely  the  same  ground  that  I  do  in  relation  to 
this  matter.  Only  produce  a  correct  public  sentiment 
at  the  North,  and,  the  ivork  is  done ;  for  all  that  keeps 
the  South  in  countenance  while  continuing  this  sys- 


EFFECT   ON    THE    SOUTH.  69 

tern,  is  the'  apology  and  argument  afforded  so  gener 
ally  by  the  North  ;  only  produce  a  right  feeling  in 
the  North  generally,  and  the  South  cannot  stand  be 
fore  it ;  let  the  North  be  thoroughly  converted,  and 
the  work  is  at  once  accomplished  at  the  South.'' 
Another  fact  which  may  be  adduced  to  prove  that  the 
South  is  looking  to  the  North  for  help,  is  the  follow 
ing  :  At  an  Anti- Slavery  concert  of  prayer  for  the  op 
pressed,  held  in  New  York  city,  in  1836,  a  gentleman 
arose  in  the  course  of  the  meeting,  declaring  himself 
a  Virginian  and  a  slaveholder.  He  said  he  came  to 
that  city  filled  with  the  deepest  prejudice  against  the 
abolitionists,  by  the  reports  given  of  their  character  in 
papers  published  at  the  North.  But  he  'determined 
to  investigate  their  character  and  designs  for  himself. 
He  even  boarded  in  the  family  of  an  abolitionist,  and 
attended  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  the  slaves 
and  the  slaveholders.  And  now,  as  the  result  of  his 
investigations  and  observations,  he  was  convinced  that 
not  only  the  spirit  but  the  principles  and  measures  of 
the  abolitionists  AKE  RIGHTEOUS.  He  was  now 
ready  to  emancipate  his  own  slaves,  and  had  com 
menced  advocating  the  doctrine  of  immediate  emanci 
pation — '  and  here,'  said  he,  pointing  to  two  men  sitting 
near  him,  'are  the  first  fruits  of  my  labors — these  two 
fellow  Virginians  and  slaveholders,  are  converts  with 
myself  to  abolitionism.  And  T  know  a  thousand  Vir 
ginians,  who  need  only  to  be  made  acquainted  with 
the  true  spirit  and  principles  of  abolitionists,  in  order 
to  their  becoming  converts  as  we  are.  Let  the  aboli 
tionists  go  on  in  the  dissemination  of  their  doctrines^ 
and  let  the  Northern  papers  cease  to  misrepresent 


70  EFFECT   ON   THE   SOUTH. 

them  at  the  South — let  the  true  light  of  abolitionism 
be  fully  shed  upon  the  Southern  mind,  and  the  work 
of  immediate  and  general  emancipation  will  be  speed 
ily  accomplished.' — Morning  Star,  N.  Y. 

A  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Kentucky  to  Gerrit 
Smith,  dated  August,  1836,  contains  the  following  ex 
pressions  : — 

'  I  am  fully  persuaded,  that  the  voice  of  the  free 
States,  lifted  up  in  a  proper  manner  against  the  evil, 
[Slavery]  will  awaken  them  [slaveholders]  from  their 
midnight  slumbers,  and  produce  a  happy  change.  I 
rejoice,  dear  brother  in  Christ,  to  hear  that  you  are 
with  us,  and  feel  deeply  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  op 
pressed,  and  undo  the  heavy  burdens.  May  God  bless 
you,  and  the  cause  which  you  pursue.' 

In  the  summer  of  1835,  William  R.  Buford,  of  Vir 
ginia,  who  had  then  recently  emancipated  his  slaves, 
wrote  a  letter  which  was  published  in  the  Hampshire 
Gazette,  North  Hampton,  Mass,  from  which  I  give 
thee  some  extracts. 

DEAR  SIR  : — As  you  are  ardently  engaged  in  the 
discussion  of  Slavery,  I  think  it  likely  I  may  be  of 
service  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  cause  which 
you  are  advocating.  ^  *  *  I  was  born  arid  brought 
up  at  the  South  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  as  you  know. 
My  father  inherited  slaves  from  his  father,  and  I  from 
him.  So  far  from  thinking  slavery  a  sin,  or  that  I 
had  no  right  to  own  the  slaves  inherited  from  my 
father,  1  thought  no  one  could  venture  to  dispute  that 
right,  any  more  than  he  could  my  right  to  his  land  or 
his  stock.  I  advocated  Colonization,  as  I  thought  it 
on  many  accounts  a  good  plan  to  get  rid  of  such  color 
ed  persons  as  wished  to  go  to  Africa;  but  my  con 
science  as  a  slaveholder  was  not  much  troubled  by  it. 
Of  course,  I  had  no  tendency  to  make  me  disclaim  my 


EFFECT   ON    THE    SOUTH.  71 

right  to  my  slaves.  Abolition — immediate  abolition, 
began  afterwards  to  be  discussed  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  My  right  to  the  slaves  I  owned  began 
to  be  disputed.  I  had  to  defend  myself.  In  vain  did 
I  say  I  inherited  my  slaves  from  a  pious  father,  who 
seemed  to  be  governed  in  his  dealings  by  a  sense  of 
duty  to  his  slaves.  In  vain  did  I  say  that  nearly  all 
my  property  consisted  in  slaves,  and  to  free  them 
would  make  me  a  poor  man.  My  duty  to  emancipate 
was  still  urged.  At  length  my  eyes  were  opened — 
partly  by  the  arguments  used  by  the  abolitionists :  but 
mainly,  by  long  being  compelled  by  them  to  examine 
the  subject  for  myself.  No  longer  could  I  close  my 
eyes  to  the  evils  of  slavery,  nor  could  I  any  longer 
despise  the  abolitionists,  '  the  only  true  friends  of  their 
country  and  kind.'  I  now  think,  I  know,  I  have  no 
more  right  to  own  slaves,  whether  I  inherited  them  or 
not,  than  I  have  to  encourage  the  African  slave  trade. 
By  declaring  this  sentiment,  I  expect  and  design  to 
abet  the  cause  of  Abolition  at  the  North,  and  through 
the  North  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  at  the  South. 
I  know  that  in  doing  this,  I  condemn  the  South.  No 
one  "can  suppose,  however,  that  I  have  any  unkind 
feelings  towards  the  South.  All  my  relatives  live 
in  the  slaveholding  States,  and  are  almost  all  slave 
holders. 

I  think  the  abolitionists  have  done,  and  are  doing  a 
great  deal  of  good,  by  holding  slavery  up  to  the  pub 
lic  gaze.  Sentiment  at  the  North  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  must  have  the  same  effect  on  the  South,  that 
their  opinions  have  on  any  other  matter.' 

The  writer  of  the  foregoing  is,  as  I  am  told,  still  a 
resident  of  Virginia,  where  he  has  long  been  known, 
and  is  highly  respected. 

In  the  llth  month,  1835,  the  United  States  Tele 
graph,  published  at  Washington  city,  contains  the  fol 
lowing  remarks  by  the  Editor,  Duff  Green. 


72  EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH 

*  We  are  of  those  who  believe  the  South  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  a  servile  war.  We  do  not  believe  that 
the  abolitionists  intend,  nor  could  they  if  they  would, 
excite  the  slaves  to  insurrection.  The  danger  of  this 
is  remote.  We  believe  that  we  have  most  to  fear 
from  the  organised  action  upon  the  consciences  and 
fears  of  the  slaveholders  themselves ;  from  the  insin 
uations  of  their  dangerous  heresies  into  our  schools, 
our  pulpits,  and  our  domestic  circles.  It  is  only  by 
alarming  the  consciences  of  the  weak  and  feeble,  and 
diffusing  among  our  own  people  a  morbid  sensibility 
on  the  question  of  slavery,  that  the  abolitionists  can 
accomplish  their  object.  PREPARATORY  TO  THIS,  they 
are  now  laboring  to  saturate  the  non-slaveholding 
States  with  the  belief  that  slavery  is  a  '  sin  against 
God.'  We  must  meet  the  question  in  all  its  bearings. 
We  must  SATISFY  THE  CONSCIENCES,  we  must  allay  the 
fears  of  our  own  people.  We  must  satisfy  them  that 
slavery  is  of  itself  right — that  it  is  not  a  sin  against 
God— that  it  is  not  an  evil,  moral  or  political.  To 
do  this,  we  must  discuss  the  subject  of  slavery  itself. 
We  must  examine  its  .bearing  upon  the  moral,  politi 
cal,  and  religious  institutions  of  the  country.  In  this 
way,  and  this  way  only,  can  we  prepare  our  own  peo 
ple  to  defend  their  own  institutions' 

In  another  number  of  the  same  paper,  the  Editor 
says, 

c  We  hold  that  our  sole  reliance  is  on  ourselves ; 
that  we  have  most  to  fear  from  the  gradual  operation 
on  public  opinion  among  ourselves ;  arid  that  those  are 
the  most  insidious  and  dangerous  invaders  of  our 
rights  and  interests,  who,  coming  to  us  in  the  guise  of 
friendship,  endeavor  to  persuade  us  that  slavery  is  a 
sin,  a  curse,  an  evil.  It  is  not  true  that  the  South 
sleeps  on  a  volcano — that  we  are  afraid  to  go  to  bed 
at  night — that  we  are  fearful  of  murder  and  pillage. 
Our  greatest  cause  of  apprehension  is  from  the  ope 
ration  of  [the  morbid  sensibility  which  appeals  to  the 


EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH.  73 

consciences  of  our  oivn  people,  and  would  make  them 
the  voluntary  instruments  of  their  own  ruin.' 

In  1835, 1  think  about  the  close  of  the  year,  a  series 
of  articles  on  Slavery  appeared  in  the  Lexington  (Ken 
tucky)  Intelligencer.  In  one  of  the  numbers,  the  writer 
says : — 

'  Much  of  the  preceding  matter  was  inserted  (May, 
1833)  in  the  Louisville  Herald.  A  great  change  has 
since  taken  place  in  public  sentiment.  Colonization, 
then  a  favorite  measure,  is  now  rejected  for  instant 
emancipation.  Were  this  last  feasible,  I  would  gladly 
join  its  advocates,'  &c. 

In  a  letter  to  the  publisher  of  the  Emancipator, 
dated  *  April  1,  1837,'  from  a  Southerner,  I  find  the 
following  language  : — 

'  Though  a born  and  bred,  I  now  consider  the 

Anti-Slavery  cause  as  a  just  and  holy  one.  Deep  re 
flection,  the  reading  of  your  excellent  publications,  and 
— years  of  travel  ih  Europe,  have  made  me,  what  I 
am  now  proud  to  call  myself,  an  abolitionist. 

'  For  the  present,  accept  the  assurances  of  my  un 
swerving  devotion  to  the  cause  of  liberty  and  justice. 
Any  letter  from  yourself  will  always  give  me  sincere 
pleasure,  and  whenever  I  go  to  New  York,  I  shall  call 
upon  you,  sans  ceremonie,  as  I  would  upon  an  old 
friend.' 

A  short  time  since,  J  G.  Birney  received  a  dona 
tion  of  $20  for  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  from  an  in 
dividual  residing  in  a  slave  State,  accompanied  with 
a  request  that  his  name  might  not  be  mentioned. 

About  the  time  of  the  robbery  of  the  U.  S.  Mail, 

and  the  burning  of  Abolition  papers  by  the  infatuated 

citizens  of  my  own  city,  the  Editor  of  the  Charleston 

Courier  made   the  following  remarks  in  his  paper, 

7 


74  EFFECT    ON   THE    SOUTH. 

which  plainly  reveal  the  cowering  of  the  spirit  of  sla 
very,  under  the  searching  scrutiny  occasioned  by  the 
Anti-Slavery  discussions  in  the  free  States. 

'  Mart  for  Negroes. — We  understand  that  a  propo 
sition  is  before  the  city  council,  relative  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  mart  for  the  sale  of  negroes  in  this  city, 
in  a  place  more  remote  from  observation,  and  less  of 
fensive  to  the  public  eye,  than  the  one  now  used  for 
that  purpose.  We  doubt  not  that  the  proposition  be 
fore  the  council  will  be  acceptable  to  the  community, 
and  that  it  may  be  so  matured  as  to  promote  public 
decency,  without  prejudice  to  the  interest  of  individ 
uals.' 

Hear,  too,  the  acknowledgement  of  the  Southern 
Literary  Review,  published  at  Charleston,  South  Car 
olina,  which  was  got  up  in  1837,  to  sustain  the  system 
of  Slavery. 

1  There  are  many  good  men  even  among  us,  who 
have  begun  to  grow  timid.  They  think  that  what 
the  virtuous  and  high-minded  men  of  the  North  look 
upon  as  a  crime  and  a  plague-spot,  cannot  be  perfectly 
innocent  or  quite  harmless  in  a  slaveholding  commu 
nity.  *  *  ^  Some  timid  men  among  us,  whose  ears 
have  been  long  assailed  with  outcries  of  tyranny  and 
oppression,  wafted  over  the  ocean  and  land  from  North 
to  South,  begin  to  look  fearfully  around  them.' 

A  correspondent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Witness,  detailing 
the  particulars  of  an  Anti- Slavery  meeting  in  Wash 
ington  co.  Pennsylvania,  says  : — '  After  Dr.  Lemoyne, 
the  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Anti- Slavery  So 
ciety,  had  finished  his  address,  in  which  the  principles 
and  measures  of  the  Anti- Slavery  Society  were  fully 
exhibited,  the  Rev.  Charles  Stewart,  of  Kentucky,  a 
slaveholding  clergyman  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
who  was  casually  present,  rose  and  addressed  the  au 
dience,  and  instead  of  opposing  our  principles  as  might 


EFFECT   ON    THE    SOUTH.  75 

have  been  expected,  fully  endorsed  every  thing  that 
had  been  said,  declaring  his  conviction  that  such  a 
speech  would  have  been  well  received  by  the  truly  re 
ligious  part  of  the  community  in  which  he  resided, 
and  would  have  been  opposed  only  by  those  who  were 
actuated  by  party  politics  alone,  or  those  who  *  neither 
feared  God  nor  regarded  man.' 

I  give  thee  now   a   letter  from  a  gentleman  in  a 
South  Western  slaveholding  State,  to  J.  G.  BIRNEY. 

'  Very  Dear  Sir: — I  knew  you  in  the  days  of  your 
prosperity  at  the  South,  though  you  will  not  recognize 
me.     Ever  since  you  first  took  your  stand  in  defence 
of  natural  rights,  I  have  been  looking  upon  you  with 
intense   interest.     I  was  violently  opposed  to  Aboli 
tionists,  and  verily  thought   I   was  doing  service  to 
both  church  and  State,  in  decrying  them  as  incendia 
ries  and  fanatics.     What  blindness  and  infatuation! 
Yet  I  was  sincere.     Ah  !  my  dear  sir,  God  in  mercy 
has  taught  me  that  something  more  than  sincerity,  in 
the  common  acceptation  of  the  term,  is  necessary  to 
preserve    our   understandings    from  idiocy,    and   our 
hearts  from  utter  ruin.     How  could  I  have  been  such 
a  madman,  as  coolly  and  composedly  to  place  my  foot 
upon  the  necks  of  immortal   beings,  and  from  that 
horrid  point   of  elevation,  hurl   the    deep   curses   of 
church  and  State  at  the  heads  of whom  ?     Fa 
natics  1     No,  sir  ! — but  of  the   only  persons  on   the 
face  of  the  earth,  who  had  HEART  enough  to  FEEL,  and 
SOUL  enough  to  ACT,  in  behalf  of  the   RIGHTS  OF 
MAN  !     Yet  I  was  just  snch  a  madman  !     Yes,  sir, 
I  was   a  fanatic,  and   an   incendiary  too — setting  on 
fire  the  worst  passions  of  our  fallen  nature.     But  I 
have  repented.     I  have  become  a  convert  to  political, 
and  I  trust,  also,  to  Christian  Freedom.     The  specta 
cle  exhibited  by  yourself,  and  your  compatriots  and 
fellow-christians,  has  completely  overcome  me.     Your 
reasonings  convince  my  judgment,  and  your  ACTIONS 
win  my  heart.     God  speed  you  in  your  work  of  love  ! 


76  EFFECT  ON   THE   SOUTH. 

The  hopes  of  the  world  depend,  under  God,  upon  the 
success  of  your  cause. 

Very  respectfully  and  with  undying  affection, 
Your  friend  and  brother,         A  SOUTHERNER.' 

Another  of  J.  G.  Birney's  southern  correspondents 
says,  in  1S36, 

*  That  portion  of  the  Church  with  which  I  am  con 
nected,  seem  to  have  no  sympathy  with  the  indignation 
against  the  abolitionists,  which  prevails  so  extensively 
North  and  South ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  consider 
the  South  as  infatuated  to  the  highest  degree. 

There  is  more  credit  for  philanthropy  given  those 
who  manumit  their  slaves,  without  expatriation^  than 
formerly. 

The  thirst  for  information  is  increasing,  while  the 
'  no7i  liquelism?  [voting  on  neither  side]  of  brethren  in 
church  courts  is  becoming  less  and  less  satisfactory ; 
and  such  of  them  as  advocate  the  perpetuity  of  the 
system,  are  looked  upon  with  surprise  and  regret. 

Those  who  view  With  horror  the  traffife  in  slaves 
by  ministers  of  the  gospel,  express  more  freely  their 
pain  at  its  indulgence,  than  1  have  ever  known.  I 
am  acquainted  with  several  such  cases.  In  no  in 
stances  have  they  left  the  brother's  standing  where  it 
was,  before  it  took  place.  Of  such  cases — even  those, 
too,  where  the  usual  allowances  might  be  called  for — 
I  have  heard  professjors  of  religion  remark,  *  Mr.  A. 
could  not  get  an  audience  to  hear  him  preach' — '  Mr. 
B.  has  more  assurance  than  I  could  have,  to  preach, 
after  selling  my  slaves  as  he  has  done' — '  He  can 
never  make  me  believe  he  has  any  religion' — '  This 
is  the  first  time  you  have  done  so,  but  repeat  it,  and  I 
think  I  shall  never  hear  you  preach  again.' 

These  remarks  were  made  by  slaveholding  profes 
sors  of  religion  themselves,  and  under  circumstances 
neither  calculated  nor  intended  to  deceive. 


EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH.  77 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  an  intelligent 
gentleman  in  the  interior  of  Alabama,  to  Arthur  Tap- 
pan,  of  New  York,  who  had  sent  him  some  Anti- Sla 
very  publications.  The  date  is  March  21,  1834. 

'  Dear  Sir — Your  letter  of  Dec.  last,  I  read  with 
much  interest.  The  numbers  of  the  Anti-Slavery 
Reporter,  also,  which  you  were  so  kind  as  to  send 
me,  I  carefully  examined,  and  put  them  in  circulation. 

Your  operations  have  produced  considerable  excite 
ment  in  some  sections  of  this  country,  but  humanity 
has  lost  nothing.  The  more  the  subject  of  slavery  is 
agitated,  the  better.  A  distinguished  gentleman  re 
marked  to  me  a  day  or  two  since,  that  '  tfiere  was  a 
great  change  going  on  in  public  sentiment.'  Few 
would  acknowledge  that  it  was  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
influence  of  your  Society.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
however,  that  this  is  directly  and  indirectly  the  prin 
cipal  cause.' 

During  the  same  year,  the  Editor  of  the  New  York 
Evangelist  received  a  letter  from  a  Christian  friend  in 
North  Carolina,  from  which  I  give  thee  an  extract. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Evangelist — 

'  The  subject  of  slavery,  recently  brought  up  and 
discussed  in  your  paper,  is  the  one  which  elicits  the 
following  remarks. 

In  the  first  place  I  will  state,  that  I  entertain 
different  views  ?iaw,  to  what  I  did  six  months  ago.  I 
was  among  those  who  thought  (and  honestly  too)  that 
there  was  no  more  moral  guilt  attached  to  the  holding 
our  fellow  beings  in  bondage,  regarding  them  as  pro 
perty,  than  to  the  holding  of  a  mule  or  an  ox.  It  was 
natural  enough  for  me  to  think  so,  for  I  had  been 
trained  from  my  very  infancy  to  view  the  subject  in 
no  other  light.  I  shall  never  forget  my  feelings  when 
the  subject  was  first  hit  upon  in  the  Evangelist.  I 
became  angry,  and  was  disposed  to  attribute  sinister 


78  EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

motives  to  all  who  were  concerned  in  the  matter. 
With  some  others,  I  determined  to  stop  the  paper 
forthwith. 

Though  I  made  every  effort  to  turn  my  mind  away 
from  the  subject,  my  conscience  in  spite  of  me  began 
to  awake,  and  to  be  troubled.  The  word  of  God  was 
resorted  to,  with  the  hope  of  rinding  something  to 
bring  peace  and  quietude,  but  all  in  vain.  It  was  but 
adding  fuel  to  the  flame.  I  determined,  let  others  do 
as  they  would,  to  meet  the  subject,  to  examine  it  in  all 
its  bearings,  and  to  abide  the  result ;  and  if  it  should 
be  found  that  God  regards  slavery  as  an  evil,  and  in 
compatible  with  the  gospel,  I  would  give  it  up.  If 
not,  I  should  be  made  wiser  without  incurring  any 
harm  by  the  investigation.  . 

In  the  very  nature  of  God's  dealings  with  men,  this 
subject  must  and  will  be  agitated,  until  conviction 
shall  be  brought  home  to  the  heart  and  conscience  of 
every  man,  and  slavery  shall  be  banished  from  our 
land.  And  woe  be  to  him  who  wilfully  closes  his 
eyes,  and  stops  his  ears  against  the  light  of  God's 
truth.' 

In  Sth  month  of  the  same  year,  the  same  paper 
contained  the  following  extract  from  another  corres 
pondent  in  North  Carolina. 

N.  Q.  JULY  9,  1834. 

*  '  Rev.  and  dear  Sir — If  I  owe  an  apology  for  in 
truding  on  you,  and  introducing  myself,  I  must  find  it 
in  the  fact,  that  I  wish  to  bid  you  God  speed  in  the 
good  cause  in  which  you  are  so  heartily  engaged. 
While  so  many  at  the  North  are  opposing,  I  wish  to 
cheer  yoti  by  one  voice  from  the  South.  If  it  is  un 
popular  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  negro  in 
New  York,  how  dangerous  to  be  known  as  his  friend 
in  the  far  South,  where,  as  a  correspondent  in  the 
Evangelist  justly  observes,  a  minister  cannot  enforce 
the  law  of  love,  without  being  suspected  of  favoring 


.EFFECT    ON   THE    SOUTH.  79 

emancipation.  I  am  glad  the  people  with  you  are 
beginning  to  feel  and  to  act.  I  pray  God  that  you- 
may  go  on  with  all  the  light  and  love  of  the  gospel, 
and  that  the  cry  of  '  Let  us  alone,'  will  not  frighten 
you  from  your  labor  of  love.' 

James  A.  Thome,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  a  na 
tive,  and  still  a  resident  of  Kentucky,  said  in  a  speech 
at  New  York,  at  the  Anniversary  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society  in  1834  : 

'  Under  all  these  disadvantages,  you  are  doing 
much.  The  very  little  leaven  which  you  have  been 
enabled  to  introduce,  is  now  working  with  tremen 
dous  power.  One  instance  has  lately  occurred  within 
my  acquaintance,  of  an  heir  to  slave  property — a 
young  man  of  growing  influence,  who  was  first 
awakened  by  reading  a  single  number  of  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Keporter,  sent  to  him  by  some  unknown 
hand.  He  is  now  a  whole-hearted  abolitionist.  I 
have  facts  to  show  that  cases  of  this  kind  are  by  no 
means  rare.  A  family  of  slaves  in  Arkansas  Terri 
tory,  another  in  Tennessee,  and  a  third,  consisting  of 
83,  in  Virginia,  were  successively  emancipated  through 
the  influence  of  one  abolition  periodical.  Then  do 
not  hesitate  as  to  duty.  Do  not  pause  to  consider 
the  propriety  of  interference.  It  is  as  unquestionably 
the  province  of  the  North  to  labor  in  this  cause,  as  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  convert  the  world.  The 
call  is  urgent — it  is  imperative.  We  want  light. 
The  ungodly  are  saying,  *  the  church  will  not  en 
lighten  us.'  The  church  is  saying,  *  the  ministry  will 
not  enlighten  us.'  The  ministry  is  crying,  '  Peace — 
take  care.'  We  are  altogether  covered  in  gross 
darkness.  We  appeal  to  you  for  light.  Send  us 
facts — send  us  kind  remonstrance  and  manly  rea 
soning.  We  are  perishing  for  lack  of  truth.  We 
have  been  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  guilty  apologist/ 


80  EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH. 

A  letter  from  a  Post  Master  in  Virginia,  to  the 
editor  of  '  Human  Rights,'  dated  August  15,  1835, 
contains  the  following  : — 

'  I  have  received  two  numbers  of  Human  Rights, 
and  one  of  The  Emancipator.  I  have  read  and  loan 
ed  them,  had  them  returned,  and  loaned  again.  I 
can  see  no  unsoundness  in  the  arguments  there  ad 
vanced — and  until  I  can  see  some  evil  in  your  publi 
cations,  I  shall  distribute  all  you  send  to  this  office. 
It  is  certainly  high  time  this  subject  was  examined, 
and  viewed  in  its  proper  light.  1  know  these  publi 
cations  will  displease  those  who  hold  their  fellow  men 
in  bondage  :  but  reason,  truth  and  justice  are  on 
your  side — and  why  should  you  seek  the  good  will 
of  any  who  do  evil  ? 

I  would  be  pleased  to  have  a  copy  of  the  last  Report 
of  the  Am.  Anti-Slavery  Society,  if  convenient,  and 
some  of  your  other  pamphlets,  which  you  have  to  dis 
tribute  gratis.  I  will  read  and  use  them  to  the  best 


A  gentleman  of  Middlesex  County,  Mass,  whose 
house  is  one  of  my  New  England  homes,  told  me  that 
he  had  very  recently  met  with  a  slaveholder  from  the 
South,  who,  during  a  warm  discussion  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  made  the  following  acknowledgment :  *  The 
worst  of  it  is,  we  have  fanatics  among  ourselves,  and 
we  don't  know  what  to  do  with  them,  for  they  are  in 
creasing  fast,  and  are  sustained  in  their  opposition  to 
slavery  by  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North.' 

A  Baptist  clergyman  whom  I  met  in  Worcester 
County,  Mass.,  a  few  months  since,  told  me  that  his 
brother-in-law,  a  lawyer  of  New  Orleans,  who  had 
recently  paid  him  a  visit,  took  up  the  Report  of  the 
Massachusetts  Anti-Slavery  Society,  and  read  it  with 


EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH.  81 

great  interest.  He  then  inquired,  whether  the  princi 
ples  set  forth  in  that  document  were  Anti-Slavery 
principles.  Upon  being  informed  that  they  were,,  he 
expressed  his  entire  approbation  of  them,  and  full 
conviction  that  they  would  prevail  as  soon  as  the 
South  understood  them ;  for,  said  he,  they  are  the  "prin 
ciples  of  truth  and  justice,  and  must  finally  triumph. 
This  gentleman  requested  to  be  furnished  with  some 
of  our  publications,  and  carried  them  to  the  South 
with  him. 

There  certainly  can  be  no  doubt  to  a  reflecting  and 
candid  mind,  as  to  what  will  and  must  be  the  result 
of  Anti-Slavery  operations.  Hear  now  the  opinion 
of  one  of  the  leading  political  papers  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  the  Southern  Patriot. 

(  While  agitation  is  permitted  in  Congress,  there  is 
no  security  for  the  South.  While  discussion  is  al 
lowed  in  that  body,  year  after  year,  in  relation  to  sla 
very  and  its  incidents,  the  rights  of  property  at  the 
South  must,  in  the  lapse  of  a  short  period,  be  under 
mined.  It  is  the  weapon  of  all  who  expect  to  work 
out  great  changes  in  public  opinion.  It  was  the  in 
strument  by  which  O'CoNNELL  gradually  shook  the 
fabric  of  popular  prejudice  in  England  on  the  Catho 
lic  question.  His  sole  instrument  was  agitation,  both 
in  Parliament  and  out  of  it.  His  constant  counsel  to 
his  followers  was,  agitate  !  agitate!  They  did  agi 
tate.  They  happily  carried  the  question  of  Catholic 
rights. 

Agitation  may  be  successfully  employed  for  a  bad 
as  well  as  good  cause.  What  was  the  weapon  of  the 
English  abolitionists? — Agitation.  Regard  the  ques 
tion  of  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  when  first 
brought  into  Parliament — behold  "the  influence  of 
PITT  and  the  tory  party  beating  down  its  advocates 


82  EFFECT    ON   THE    SOUTH. 

by  an  overwhelming  majority  !  Look  at  the  question 
of  abolition  itself,  twenty  years  after,  and  you  see 
WILBERFORCE  and  his  adherents  carrying  the  question 
itself  of  abolition  of  slavery,  by  a  majority  as  trium 
phant  !  How  was  all  this  accomplished  ? — By  agita- 
tnain  Parliament!  It  was  on  this  ample  theatre 
that  the  abolitionists  worked  their  fatal  spells.  It 
was  on  this  wide  stage  of  discussion  that  they  spoke 
to  the  people  of  England  in  that  voice  of  fanaticism, 
which,  at  length,  found  an  echo  that  suited  their  pur 
poses.  It  was  through  the  debates,  which  circulated 
by  means  of  the  press  throughout  every  corner  of  the 
realm,  that  they  carried  that  question  to  its  extremest 
borders,  to  the  hamlet  of  every  peasant  in  the  empire. 
Can  it  then  be  expected,  if  we  give  the  American 
abolitionists  the  same  advantage  of  that  wide  field  of 
debate  which  Congress  affords,  that  the  same  results 
will  not  follow  1  The  local  legislatures  are  limited 
theatres  of  action.  Their  debates  are  comparatively 
obscure.  These  are  not  read  by  the  people  at  large. 
Allow  the  agitators  a  great  political  centre,  like  that 
of  Washington — permit  them  to  address  their  voice 
of  fanatical  violence  to  the  whole  American  people, 
through  their  diffusive  press,  and  they  want  no  greater 
advantage.  They  have  a  MORAL  LEVER  BY  WHICH 

THEY  CAN  MOVE  A  WORLD  OF  OPINION. 

The  course  of  the  southern  States  is  therefore 
marked  out  by  a  pencil  of  light.  They  should  obtain 
additional  guarantees  against  the  discussion  of  slavery 
in  Congressman  any  manner,  or  in  any  of  its  forms, 
as  it  exists  in  the  United  States.  This  is  the  only 
means  that  promises  success  in  removing  agitation. 
We  have  said  that  this  is  the  accepted  time.  When 
we  look  at  the  spread  of  opinion  on  this  subject  in 
some  of  the  eastern  States — in  Vermont,  Massachu 
setts  and  Connecticut — what  are  we  to  expect  in  a 
few  years,  in  the  middle  States,  should  discussion 
proceed  in  Congress  ?  These  States  are  yet  unin- 
fected,  in  any  considerable  degree,  by  the  fanatical 


EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH.  83 

spirit.  They  may  not  remain  so  after  a  lapse  of  five 
years.  If  they  are  animated  by  a  true  spirit  of  patri 
otism — by  a  genuine  love  for  the  Union,  they  should, 
and  could  with  effect,  interpose  to  stay  this  moral 
pestilence.  Their  voice  in  this  matter  would  be  in 
fluential.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  are  inter 
mediate  between  the  South  and  East  in  position  and 
in  physical  strength.' 

Samuel  L.  Gould,  a  minister  of  the  Baptist  denom 
ination,  writing  to  the  Secretary  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  from  Fayette  County,  Penn 
sylvania,  in  4th  month,  1836,  says  : — 

*  The  Smithfield  Anti-Slavery  Society,  [on  the 
border  of  Virginia]  has  among  its  members,  several 
residents  of  Virginia.  Its  President  has  been  a  slave 
holder,  and  until  recently,  was  a  distinguished  citizen 
of  Virginia,  the  High  Sheriff  of  Rockingham  County. 
Having  become  convinced  of  the  wickedness  of  slave- 
holding,  a  little  more  than  a  year  ago  he  purchased 
an  estate  in  Pennsylvania,  and  removed  to  it,  his 
colored  men  accompanying  him.  He  now  employs 
them  as  hired  laborers.' 

I  may  mention,  in  this  connection,  an  Alabama 
slaveholder,  a  lawyer  named  Smith,  who  emancipated 
his  slaves,  I  think  about  twenty  in  number,  a  few 
months  since.  He  was  the  brother-in-law  of  William 
Allan  of  Huntsville,  who  was  in  1834,  president  of 
the  Lane  Seminary  Anti-Slavery  Society,  and  subse 
quently  an  agent  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  So 
ciety,  and  who  had  for  years  previous  been  in  kind 
and  faithful  correspondence  with  him  on  the  subject 
of  slavery. 

Henry  P.  Thompson,  a  student  of  Lane  Seminary, 
and  a  slaveholder  at  the  time  of  the  Anti-Slavery 


84  EFFECT   ON    THE    SOUTH. 

•v-.^.  ; 

discussion  in  that  Institution,  was  convinced  by  it, 
went  to  Kentucky,  and  emancipated  his  slaves. 

Arthur  Thome,  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  Augusta,  Kentucky,  emancipated  his  slaves, 
fourteen  in  number,  about  two  years  since.  J.  G. 
Birney,  speaking  of  him  in  the  Philanthropist,  says  : — 

*  For  a  long  time  he  had  been  a  professor  of  reli 
gion,  but  had  not,  till  the  doctrines  of  abolition  were 
embraced  by  his  son  on  the  discussion  of  the  subject 
at  Lane  Saminary,  given  to  the  subject  more  attention 
than  was  usual  among  slaveholding  professors  at  the 
time.  At  first  he  thought  his  son  was  deranged — 
and  that  his  intended  trip  to  New  York,  to  speak  at 
the  anniversary  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Soci 
ety,  was  evidence  of  it.  Hs  sought  him  (as  we  have 
heard,)  on  the  steamboat,  which  was  to  convey  him 
up  the  Ohio  river,  that  he  might  stop  him. from  going. 
Something,  however,  prevented  his  seeing  his  son 
before  his  departure,  and  there  was  no  detention. 

The  truth  bore  on  the  mind  of  Mr.  T.  till  it  pro 
duced  its  proper  fruit — and  he  now  says,  that  he  is 
confident  no  other  doctrine  but  that  of  the  SIN  of  slave- 
holding,  connected  with  an  immediate  breaking  off 
from  it,  will  influence  the  slaveholder  to  do  justice.' 

I  see  by  the  late  Washington  papers,  that  one  of 
my  South  Carolina  cousins,  Robert  Barnwell  Rhett, 
the  late  Attorney  General  of  the  State,  has  come  up 
to  my  help  on  this  point,  with  his  characteristic  chiv 
alry  ;  [howbeit  '  he  meaneth  not  so,  neither  doth  his 
heart  think  so.']  In  his  late  address  to  his  Congres 
sional  Constituents,  he  says  : — 

'  Who  that  knows  anything  of  human  affairs,  but 
must  be  sensible  that  the  subject  of  abolition  may  be 
approached  in  a  thousand  ways,  without  direct  leg 
islation  ?  By  perpetual  discussion,  agitation  and 


EFFECT   ON    THE    SOUTH.  85 

threats,  accompanied  with  the  real  or  imaginary 
power  to  perform,  there  will  be  need  of  no  other  action 
than  ivords  to  shake  the  confidence  ef  men  in  the  safety 
and  continuance  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  its 
value  and  existence  will  be  destroyed.  These  are  all 
the  weapons  the  abolitionist  'desires  to  be  allowed  to 
use  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  When  Congress 
moves,  it  will  be  the  last  act  in  the  drama  ;  and  it  will 
be  prepared  to  enforce  its  legislation.  To  acknowl 
edge  the  right,  or  to  tolerate  the  act  of  interference  at 
all  with  this  institution,  is  to  give  it  up — to  abandon 
it  entirely;  and,  as  this  must  be  the  consummation 
of  any  interference,  the  sooner  it  is  reached  the  better. 
The  South  must  hold  this  institution,  not  amidst 
alarm  and  molestation,  but  in  peace — perfect  peace, 
from  the  interference  or  agitation  of  others ;  or,  I  re 
peat  it,  she  will — she  can — hold  it  not  at  all.  .* 
There  is  no  one  so  weak,  but  he  must  perceive  that, 
whilst  the  spirit  of  abolition  in  the  North  is  increasing, 
slavery  in  the  South,  in  all  the  frontier  States,  is  de 
creasing.' 

Farther,  I  may  add  the  names  of  J.  G.  Birney  of 
Alabama,  John  Thompson  and  a  person  named  Meux, 
Jassamine  County,  Kentucky,  J.  M.  Buchanan,  Pro 
fessor  in  Center  College,  Kentucky,  Andrew  Shannon, 
a  Presbyterian  minister  in  Shelbyville,  Kentucky, 
Samuel  Taylor,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Nicholas- 
ville,  Kentucky,  Peter  Dunn  of  Mercer  County,  Ken 
tucky,  a  person  named  Doake  in  Tennessee,  another 
named  Carr  in  North  Carolina,  another  named  Harn- 
don  in  Virginia — with  a  number  of  others,  the  partic 
ulars  of  whose  cases  I  have  not  now  by  me,  all  of 
whom  were  slaveholders  four  years  since,  and  were 
induced  to  emancipate  their  slaves  through  the  influ 
ence  of  Anti-Slavery  discussions  and  periodicals. 
8 


86  EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH. 

The  Democrat,  a  political  paper  published  at 
Rochester,  New  York,  contained  the  following  in  the 
summer  of  1835. 

*  On  Saturday  last,  many  of  our  citizens  had  an 
opportunity  of  witnessing  a  noble  scene.  On  board 
the  boat  William  Henry,  then  lying  at  the  Exchange 
street  wharf,  were  TEN  SLAVES,  or  those  who  had  re 
cently  been  such,  and  several  free  persons  of  color. 
The  master,  a  gentleman  of  more  than  seventy  years 
of  age',  accompanied  them.  His  residence  was  in 
Powhattan  County,  seventy  miles  below  Richmond, 
Virginia.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Buffalo,  near  which 
place  he  intends  purchasing  a  large  farm,  where  his 
*  people,'  as  he  calls  them,  are  to  be  settled.  The 
above  named  gentleman  was  led  to  sacrifice  much  of 
this  world's  lucre,  besides  some  $5000  of  human 
' property J.  by  becoming  convinced  of  the  sinfulness 
of  his  practice  while  reading  Anti- 'Slavery  publica 
tions.1 

A  letter  now  lies  before  me  from  an  elder  of  a  re 
ligious  denomination  in  the  far  South- West,  who 
was  converted  to  Abolition  sentiments  by  Anti-Slavery 
publications  sent  to  him  from  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  who  has  already  emancipated  his  slaves,  ten  in 
number.  The  writer  says,  *  my  hopes  are  revived 
when  I  read  of  the  progress  of  the  cause  in  the  East 
ern  States,  and  of  the  increase  of  Anti-Slavery  Socie 
ties.  My  soul  glows  with  gratitude  to  God  for 'his 
mercy  to  the  down-trodden  slaves,  in  raising  up  for 
them  in  these  days  of  savage  cruelty,  hundreds  who, 
fearless  of  consequences,  are  standing  up  for  the  entire 
abolition  of  slavery,  whom,  though  unseen,  I  dearly 
love.  O  !  how  it  would  delight  me  to  listen  to  the 
public  addresses  of  some  of  these  dear  friends.' 


EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH.  87 

Hear,  too,  the  reason  assigned  by  James  Smylie,  a 
Presbyterian  minister  of  the  Amite  Presbytery,  Mis 
sissippi,  for  writing  a  book  in  1836,  to  prove  that-sla- 
very  is  a  divine  institution. 

1  From  his  intercourse  with  religious  societies  of 
all  denominations  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  he 
was  aware  that  the  Abolition  maxim,  viz :  that  Sla 
very  is  m  itself  sinful,  had  gained  on  and  entwined 
itself  among  the  religious  and  conscientious  scruples 
of  many  in  the  community,  so  far  as  to  render  them 
unhappy.  The  eye  of  the  mind,  resting  on  Slavery 
itself  as  a  corrupt  fountain,  from  which,  of  necessity, 
nothing  but  corrupt  streams  could  flow,  was  inces 
santly  employed  in  search  of  some  plan  by  which, 
with  safety,  the  fountain  could,  in  some  future  time, 
be  entirely  dried  up.'  An  illustration  of  this  impor 
tant  acknowledgement,  will  be  found  in  the  following 
fact,  extracted  from  the  Herald  of  Freedom :  '  A 
young  gentleman  who  has  been  residing  in  South 
Carolina,  says  our  movements  (Abolitionists)  are  pro 
ducing  the  best  effects  upon  the  South,  rousing  the 
consciences  of  Slaveholders,  while  the  slaves  seem  to 
be  impressed  as  a  body  with  the  idea,  that  help  is 
coming — that  an  interest  is  felt  for  them,  and  plans 
devising  for  their  relief  somewhere — which  keeps 
them  quiet.  He  says  it  is  not  uncommon  for  minis 
ters  and  good  people  to  make  confession  like  this. 
One,  riding  with  him,  broke  forth,  '  O,  I  fear  that  the 
groans  and  wails  from  our  slaves  enter  into  the  ear 
of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.  I  am  distressed  on  this  sub 
ject  :  my  conscience  will  let  me  have  no  peace.  I  go 
to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep.  I  walk  my  room  in  agony, 
and  resolve  that  I  will  never  hold  slaves  another  day  ; 
but  in  the  morning,  my  heart,  like  Pharaoh's,  is 
hardened.' 

In  the  autumn  of  1835,  an  influential  minister  in 
one  of  the  most  southern  States,  (who  only  one  year 


88  EFEECT    ON   THE    SOUTH. 

before  had  stoutly  defended  slavery,  and  vehemently 
insisted  that  northern  abolitionists  were  producing 
unmixed  and  irremediable  evil  at  the  South,)  wrote  to 
the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  one  of  our  State  Anti- 
Slavery  Societies  who  had  furnished  him  with  Anti- 
Slavery  publications,  avowing  his  conversion  to  Abo 
lition  sentiments,  and  praying  that  Anti-Slavery  So 
cieties  might  persevere  in  their  efforts,  and  increase 
them.  Among  other  expressions  of  strong  feeling 
the  letter  contained  the  following  : 

*  I  am  greatly  surprised  that  I  should  in  any  form 
have  been  the  apologist  of  a  system  so  full  of  deadly 
poison  to  all  holiness  and  benevolence  as  slavery,  the 
concocted  essence  of  fraud,  selfishness,  and  cold- 
hearted  tyranny,  and  the  fruitful  parent  of  unnum 
bered  evils,  both  to  the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed, 

THE  ONE  THOUSANDTH  PART  OF  WHICH  HAS  NEVER  BEEN 
BROUGHT  TO  LIGHT. 

'  Do  you  ask  why  this  change,  after  residing  in  a 
slave  country  for  twenty  years  ?  You  remember  the 
lines  of  Pope,  beginning  : 

1  Vice  is  a  monster,  of  so  frightful  mien 
As  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen, 
But  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face  ; 
"We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace.' 

I  had  become  so  familiar  with  the  loathsome  fea 
tures  of  slavery,  that  they  ceased  to  offend — besides, 
I  had  become  a  southern  man  in  all  my  feelings,  and 
it  is  a  part  of  our  creed  to  defend  slavery.' 

About  two  years  since,  Arthur  and  Lewis  Tappan 
received  a  letter  from  a  Virginian  slaveholder,  who 
held  nearly  one  hundred  slaves,  and  whose  conscience 
had  been  greatly  roused  to  the  sin  of  slavery.  In  the 
letter,  he  avowed  his  determination  to  absolve  himself 


EFFECT    Oft    THE    SOtJTlf.  89 

from  the  guilt  of  slaveholding,  declaring  that  he  '  had 
rather  be  a  wood  cutter  or  a  coal  heaver,  than  to  re 
main  in  the  midst  of  slavery.  "> 

An  intelligent  gentleman,  a  lawyer  and  a  citizen 
of  the  District  of  Columbia,  has  just  written  a.  letter 
to  a  gentleman  of  New  York  city,  from  which  I  give 
thee  the  following  extract : 

*  The  proceedings  in  Congress  at  this  session  have 
had  the  effect,  I  think,  to  rouse  the  attention  of  the 
public  in  all  quarters,  to  the  subject  of  slavery ;  and 
that,  of  itself,  I  think  is  a  good :  and  it  is  in  my 
opinion  the  chief  present  good  that  is  to  grow  out  of 
it.  Discussion  of  some  sort  takes  place,  and  the  real 
foundation  on  which  the  system  rests,  cannot  but  be 
brought  more  or  less  into  view.  My  hope  is,:  that 
men  who  denounce  now,  will  at  length  reason.  That 
is  what  is  wanted — reasoning,  reflection,  and  a  true 
perception  of  the  basis  on  which  slavery  is  founded.' 

The  foregoing  are  but  a  few  of  the  facts  and  testi 
monies  in  the  possession  of  Abolitionists,  showing 
that  their  discussions,  periodicals,  petitions,  arguments, 
appeals  and  societies,  have  extensively  moved,  and 
are  still  mightily  moving  the  slavehotding  States— /or 
good.  Did  time  and  space  permit,  I  might,  by  a  little 
painstaking,  procure  many  more.  Before  passing 
from  this  part  of  the  subject,  I  must  record  my 
amazement  at  the  clamors  of  many  of  the  opponents 
of  Abolitionists,  from  whom  better  things  might  indeed 
be  hoped.  What  slaveholders  have  you  convinced  ? 
they  demand.  Whom  have  you  made  Abolitionists  ? 
Give  us  their  names  and  places  of  abode.  Now,  those 
who  incessantly  stun  us  with  such  unreasonable 
clamor,  know  full  well,  that  to  give  the  public  the 


DO  EFFECT   ON   THE    SOUTH. 

names  and  residences  of  such  persons,  would  be  in 
most  instances  to  surrender  them  to  butchery.  But 
be  it  known  to  the  North  and  to  the  South,  we  have 
names  of  scores  of  citizens  of  the  slaveholding  states, 
many  of  them  slaveholders,  who  are  in  constant  cor 
respondence  with  us,  persons  who  feel  so  deeply  on 
the  subject  as  to  implore  us  to  persevere  in  our  ef 
forts,  and  not  to  be  dismayed  by  Southern  threats  nor 
disheartend  by  Northern  cavils  and  heartlessness.  Yea 
more,  these  persons  have  committed  to  us  the  custo 
dy  even  of  their  lives,  thus  encountering  imminent  per 
il  that  they  might  cheer  us  onward  in  our  work. 
Shall  we  betray  their  trust,  or  put  them  in  jeopardy  ? 
Judge  thou. 

Now  let  me  ask,  when  in  former  years  Anti-Slave 
ry  tracts,  with  our  doctrines,  could  be  circulated  at 
the  South  ?  The  fact  is,  there  were  none  to  be  cir 
culated  there ;  our  principle  of  repentance  is  quite 
new.  But  I  can  tell  thee  of  two  facts,  which  it  is 
probable  thou  'hast  not  been  informed  of.'  In  the 
year  1809,  the  steward  of  a  vessel,  a  colored  man, 
carried  some  Abolition  pamphlets  to  Charleston. 
Immediately  on  his  arrival,  he  was  informed  against, 
and  would  have  been  tried  for  his  life,  had  he  not 
promised  to  leave  the  State,  never  to  return.  Was 
South  Carolina  willing  to  receive  abolition  pamphlets 
then  ?  Again,  in  1820,  my  sister  carried  some  pam 
phlets  there — '  Thoughts  on  Slavery,'  issued  by  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  therefore  not  very  incendia 
ry,  thou  mayest  be  assured  ;  and  yet  she  was  inform 
ed  some  time  afterwards,  that  had  it  not  been  for  the 
influence  of  our  family,  she  would  have  been  impris- 


EFFECT    ON   THE    SOUTH.  91 

oned ;  for  she,  too,  was  accused  of  giving  one  of 
them  to  a  slave  ;  just  as  Abolitionists  have  been 
falsely  charged  with  sending  their  papers  to  the  en 
slaved.  What  she  did  give  away,  she  was  obliged 
to  give  privately.  Was  Charleston  ready  to  receive 
Abolition  pamphlets  then?  Or  when  ?  please  to  tell 
me.  I  say  that  more,  far  more  Anti-Slavery  tracts, 
&c.  are  now  read  in  the  South,  than  ever  were  at 
any  former  period.  As  to  Colonizotion  tracts,  I 
know  they  have  circulated  at  the  South ;  but  what 
of  that,  when  Southerners  believed  that  Colonization 
had  no  connection  with  the  overthrow  of  Slavery? 
Colonization  papers,  &c.  are  not  Abolition  papers. 

As  to  preachers,  let  me  assure  thee,  that  they  nev 
er  have  dared  to  preach  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in 
my  native  city,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends. 
Ah !  I  f®r  some  years  sat  under  two  northern  minis 
ters,  but  never  did  I  hear  them  preach  in  public,  or 
speak  in  private,  on  the  sin  of  slavery.  O  !  the  deep, 
DEEP  injury  which  such  unfaithful  ministers  have  in 
flicted  on  the  South  !  It  is  well  known  that  our 
young  men  have>  to  a  great  extent,  been  educated  in 
Northern  Theological  Seminaries.  With  what  prin 
ciples  were  their  minds  imbued  ?  What  kind  of 
religion  did  the  North  prepare  them  to  preach  1  A 
slaveholding  religion.  What  kind  of  religion  did 
northern  men  come  down  and  preach  to  us  ?  A 
slaveholding  religion— and  multitudes  of  them  be 
came  slaveholders.  Such  was  one  of  my  northern 
pastors.  And  yet  thou  tellest  me,  the  North  has 
nothing  to  do  with  slavery  at  the  South — is  not  guil- . 
ty,  &c.  &c.  *  Their  own  clergy,'  thou  sayest, '  eith- 


EFFECT    ON    THE    SOUTH. 

er  entirely  hold  their  peace,  or  become  the  defend 
ers  of  a  system  they  once  lamented,  and  attempted 
to  bring  to  an  end.'  Do  name  to  me  one  of  those 
valiant  defenders  of  slavery,  who  formerly  lamented 
Over  the  system,  and  attempted  to  bring  it  to  an  end. 
*  What  is  his  name,  or  what  is  his  son's  name,  if 
thou  canst  tell  ?'  Strange  indeed,  if,  because  we  ad 
vocate  the  truth,  others  should  begin  to  hate  it;  or 
because  we  expose  sin,  they  should  turn  round  and 
defend  what  once  they  lamented  over !  Is  this  in 
accordance  with  '  the  known  laws  of  mind,'  where 
principle  is  deeply  rooted  in  the  heart  ? 

And  then  thou  closest  these  assertions  without 
proof,  with  the  triumphant  exclamation,  '  This  is 
the  record  of  experience,  as  to  the  tendencies  of  abo 
litionism,  as  thus  far  developed.  The  South  is  just 
now  in  that  state  of  high  exasperation,  at  the  sense 
of  wanton  injury  and  impertinent  interference,  which 
makes  the  influence  of  truth  and  reason  most  useless 
and  powerless.'  Hadst  thou  been  better  informed  as 
to  the  real  tendencies  of  abolitionism  on  the  South, 
this  assertion  also  might  have  been  spared.  Again 
I  repeat,  the  South  does  not  tell  us  so.  Read  the 
subjoined  extract  of  a  letter  now  lying  before  me 
from  a  correspondent  in  a  Southern  State.  '  12  or  15 
at  this  place  believe  that  all  men  are  born  free  and 
equal,  that  prejudice  against  color  is  a  disgrace  to  the 
man  who  feels  it,  that  such  a  feeling  is  without  foun 
dation  in  reason  or  scripture,  and  ought  to  be  aban 
doned  immediately,  that  slavery  is  a  malum  in  se,  yea, 
a  heinous  crime  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  be  repented 
of  without  delay .'  Read  also  the  following,  extract- 


EFFECT   ON  THE    SOUTH.  93 

ed  from  the  Marietta  Gazette  :  '  A  citizen  of  one  of 
the  free  states,  not  many  months  ago,  observed  to 
a  distinguished  southerner,  that  the  operations  of  the 
abolitionists  were  impeding  the  cause  of  emancipa 
tion — or  to  that  effect.  '  Sir,'  said  the  Southerner, 
'  You  are  mistaken.  Depend  upon  it,  these  agita 
tions  have  put  the  slaveholders  to  very  serious  think 
ing.'  These,  then,  are  the  effects  which  Abolitionism  is 
producing  on  some  at  the  South.  That  others  are 
exasperated,  I  do  not  deny.  Hear  what  Boiling  of 
Virginia  said  in  1832,  in  the  Legislature  of  that 
State  :  « It  has  long  been  the  pleasure  of  those 
who  are  wedded  to  the  system  of  slavery,  to  brand 
all  its  opponents  with  opprobrious  epithets  ;  to  rep 
resent  them  as  enemies  to  order,  as  persons  desir 
ous  of  tearing  up  the  foundation  of  society  there 
by  endeavoring  to  brand  them,  with  infamy  in 
order  to  avert  from  them  the  public  ear.'  Here  then 
we  find  a  Southern  Legislator  acknowledging  that 
all  the  opponents  of  Slavery  have  ever  excited  the 
same  exasperation  in  those  who  are  *  wedded  to  the 
system.'  Who  is  to  be  blamed  ?  Is  this  any  cause 
of  discouragement  ?  That  we  have  succeeded  in 
rousing  the  North  to  reflection,  thou  art  thyself  a  liv 
ing  proof;  for  let  me  ask,  what  it  was  that  set  thee  to 
such  serious  thinking,  as  to  induce  thee  to  write  a 
book  on  the  Slave  Question  1 

Thy  friend  in  haste, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE, 


LETTER  X. 

•••'  >'fl* ' 

*  THE  TENDENCY  OF  THE  AGE  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION  ' 
PRODUCED  BY  ABOLITION  DOCTRINES. 

DEAR  FRIEND:  Thou  sayest,  '  that  this  evil  (Slav 
ery,)  is  at  no  distant  period  to  come  to  an  end,  is  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  all  who  either  notice  the  ten 
dencies  of  the  age,  or  believe  in  the  prophecies  of  the 
Bible.'  But  how  can  this  be  true,  if  Abolitionists 
have  indeed  rolled  back  the  car  of  Emancipation  ?  If 
our  m'easures  really  tend  to  this  result,  how  can  this 
evil  come  to  an  end  at  no  distant  period  ?  Coloniza- 
tionists  tell  us,  if  it  had  not  been  for  our  interference, 
they  could  have  done  a  vast  deal  better  than  they  have 
done ;  and  the  American  Unionists  say,  that  we  have 
paralyzed  their  efforts,  so  that  they  can  do  nothing; 
and  yet  '  the  tendencies  of  the  age '  are  crowding  for 
ward  Emancipation.  Now,  what  has  produced  this 
tendency  ?  Surely  every  reflecting  person  must  ac 
knowledge,  that  Colonization  cannot  effect  the  work 
of  Abolition.  The  American  Union  is  doing  nothing ; 
and  Abolitionists  are  pursuing  a  course  which  '  will 
tend  to  bring  slavery  to  an  end,  if  at  all,  at  the  most 


TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION.  95 

distant  period,' — then  do  tell  me,  how  the  tendencies 
of  the  age  can  possibly  lean  towards  Emancipation  ! 
Perhaps  I  shall  be  told,  that  the  movements  of  Great 
Britain  in  the  West  Indies  created  this  tendency. 
Ah  !  but  this  is  a  foreign  influence,  more  so  even  than 
Northern  influence ;  and  if  the  North  is  '  a  foreign 
community,'  as  thou  expressly  stylest  it,  and  can  on 
that  account  produce  no  influence  on  the  South,  how 
can  the  doings  of  England  affect  her  ? 

Now  I  believe  with  thee,  that  the  tendencies  of  the 
age  are  toward  Emancipation ;  but  I  contend  that  no 
thing  but  free  discussion  has  produced  this  tendency — 
'the  present  agitation  of  the  subject'  is  in  fact  the 
thing  which  is  producing  this  happy  tendency.  Now 
let  us  turn  to  the  South,  and  ask  her  eagle-eyed  poli 
ticians  what  they  are  most  afraid  of.  Read  their  an 
swer  in  their  desperate  struggles  to  fetter  the  press 
and  gag  the  mouths  of — whom  ? — Colonizationists  ? 
Why  no — they  talk  colonization  themselves,  and  are 
not  at  all  afraid  that  the  expatriation  of  a  few  hun 
dreds  or  thousands  in  20  years  will  ever  drain  the 
country  of  its  millions  of  slaves,  where  they  are  now 
increasing  at  the  rate  of  70,000  every  year.  The 
American  Unionists  ?  O  no  !  the  South  has  not 
deemed  them  worthy  of  any  notice !  Pray,  then, 
whose  mouths  are  slaveholders  so  fiercely  striving  to 
seal  in  silence  ?  Why'  the  mouths  of  Abolitionists,  to 
be  sure — even  our  infant  school  children  know  this. 
Strange  indeed,  when  the  labors  of  these  men  are  ac 
tually  rolling  back  the  car  of  Emancipation  for  one  or 
two  centuries !  Why,  the  South  ought  to  pour  out 
her  treasure,  to  support  Anti-  Slavery  agents,  and  print 


96  TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION 

Anti- Slavery  papers  and  pamphlets,  and  do  all  she 
can  to  aid  us  in  rolling  back  Emancipation.  Pray, 
write  her  a  book,  and  tell  her  she  has  been  very  need 
lessly  alarmed  at  our  doings,  and  advise  her  to  send 
us  a  few  thousand  dollars  :  her  money  would  be  very 
acceptable  in  these  hard  times,  and  we  would  take 
it  as  the  wages  due  to  the  unpaid  laborers,  though  we 
would  never  admit  the  donors  to  membership  with  us. 
How  dost  thou  think  she  would  receive  such  a  book  ? 
Just  try  it,  I  entreat  thee. 

Thou  seemest  to  think  that  the  North  has  no  right 
to  rebuke  the  South,  and  assumest  the  ground  that 
Abolitionists  are  the  enemies  of  the  South.     We  say, 
we  have  the  right,  and  mean  to  exercise  it.     I  believe 
that  every  northern  Legislature  has  a  right,  and  ought 
to  use  the  right,  to  send  a  solemn  remonstrance   to 
every  southern  Legislature  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
Just  as  much  right  as  the  South  has  to  send  up  a  re 
monstrance  against  our  free  presses,  free  pens,  and 
free  tongues.     Let  the  North  follow  her  example ;  but, 
instead  of  asking  her  to  enslave  her  subjects,   entreat 
her  to  free  them.     The  South  may  pretend  now,  that 
we  have  no  right  to  interfere,  because  it  suits  her  con 
venience  to  say  so  ;  but  a  few  years  ago,  (1820,)   we 
find  that  our  Vice  President,  R.   M.  Johnson,  in   his 
speech  on  the  Missouri  question,  was  amazed  at  the 
*  cold  insensibility,  the  eternal   apathy    towards   the 
slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia,'  which  was  exhib 
ited  by  northern  men,  '  though  they  had  occular  dem 
onstration  continually '  before  them  of  the   abomina 
tions  of  slavery.      Then  the  South  wondered  we  did 
not  interfere  with  slavery — and  now  she  says  we  have 
no  right  to  interfere. 


TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION.  97 

I  find,  on  the  57th  p.  a  false  assertion  with  regard 
to  Abolitionists.  After  showing  the  folly  of  our  re 
jecting  the  worldly  doctrine  of  expediency,  so  excel 
lent  in  thy  view,  thou  then  sayest  that  we  say,  the 
reason  why  we  do  not  go  to  the  South  is,  that  we 
should  be  murdered.  Now,  if  there  are  any 'half 
hearted  Abolitionists,  who  are  thus  recreant  to  the 
high  and  holy  principle  of  '  Duty  is  ours,  and  events 
are  God's,'  then  I  must  leave  such  to  explain  their 
own  inconsistences  ;  but  that  this  is  the  reason  assign 
ed  by  the  Society,  as  a  body,  I  never  have  seen  nor 
believed.  So  far  from  it,  that  I  have  invariably  heard 
those  who  understood  the  principles  of  the  Anti-Slav 
ery  Society  best,  deny  that  it  was  a  duty  to  go  to  the 
South,  not  because  they  would  be  killed,  but  because 
the  North  ivas  guilty,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  labor 
ed  withjirst.  They  took  exactly  the  same  view  of 
the  subject,  which  was  taken  by  the  southern  friend 
of  mine  to  whom  I  have  already  alluded.  '  Until 
til  northern  women,  (said  she,)  do  their  duty  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  southern  women  cannot  be  expect 
ed  to  do  theirs.'  I  therefore  utterly  deny  this  charge. 
Such  may  be  the  opinion  of  a  few,  but  it  is  not  and 
cannot  be  proved  to  be  a  principle  of  action  in  the 
Anti-Slavery  Society.  The  fact  is,  we  need  no  ex 
cuse  for  not  going  to  the  South,  so  long  as  the  North 
is  as  deeply  involved  in  the  guilt  of  slavery  as  she  is, 
and  as  blind  to  her  duty. 

One  word  with  regard  to  these  remarks :  *  Before 

the  Abolition  movements  commenced,  both  northern 

and  southern  men  expressed  their  views  freely  at  the 

South.'     This,  also,  I  deny,  because,  as  a  southerner, 

9 


98  TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION. 

I  knoiv  that  J  never  could  express  my  views  freely  on 
the  abominations  of  slavery,  without  exciting  anger, 
even  in  professors  of  religion.  It  is  true,  *  the  dan 
gers,  evils  and  mischiefs  of  slavery '  could  be,  and  were 
discussed  at  the  South  and  the  North.  Yes,  we 
might  talk  as  much  as  we  pleased  about  these,  as  long 
as  we  viewed  slavery  as  a  misfortune  to  the  slave 
holder,  and  talked  of  '  the  dangers,  evils  and  mischiefs 
of  slavery '  to  him,  and  pitied  him  for  having  had 
such  a  '  sad  inheritance  entailed  upon  him.'  But 
could  any  man  or  woman  ever  '  express  their  views 
freely  '  on  the  SIN  of  slavery  at  the  South  ?  I  say, 
never !  Could-  they  express  their  views  freely  as  to 
the  dangers,  mischiefs  and  evils  of  slavery  to  the  poor 
suffering  slave  ?  No,  never  !  It  was  only  whilst  the 
slaveholder  was  regarded  as  an  unfortunate  sufferer, 
and  sympathized  with  as  such,  that  he  was  willing  to 
talk,  and  be  talked  to,  on  this  '  delicate  subject.' 
Hence  we  find,  that  as  soon  as. he  is  addressed  as  a 
guilty  oppressor,  why  then  he  is  in  a  phrenzy  of  pas 
sion.  As  soon  as  we  set  before  him  the  dangers,  and 
evils,  and  mischiefs  of  slavery  to  the  down-trodden 
victims  of  his  oppression,  O  then !  the  slaveholder 
storms  and  raves  like  a  maniac.  Now  look  at  this 
view  of  the  subject :  as  a  southerner,  I  know  it  is  the 
only  correct  one. 

With  regard  to  the  discussion  of  '  the  subject  of 
slavery,  in  the  legislative  halls  of  the  South,'  if  thou 
hast  read  these  debates,  thou  certainly  must  know 
that  they  did  not  touch  on  the  SIN  of  slavery  at  all ; 
they  were  wholly  confined  to  '  the  dangers,  evils  and 
mischiefs  of  slavery '  to  the  unfortunate  •  slaveholder. 


TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION.  99 

What  did  the  discussion  in  the  Virginia  legislature 
result  in  ?  In  the  rejection  of  every  plan  of  emanci 
pation,  and  in  the  passage  of  an  act  which  they  believ 
ed  would  give  additional  permanency  to  the  institu 
tion,  whilst  it  divested  it  of  its  dangers,  by  removing 
the  free  people  of  color  to  Liberia  ;  for  which  purpose 
they  voted  $20,000,  but  took  very  good  care  to  pro 
vide,  '  that  no  slave  to  be  thereafter  emancipated  should 
have  the  benefit  of  the  appropriation,'  so  fearful  were 
they,  lest  masters  might  avail  themselves  of  this 
scheme  of  expatriation  to  manumit  their  slaves.  The 
Maryland  scheme  is  altogether  based  on  the  principle 
of  banishment  and  oppression.  The  colored  people 
were  to  be  '  got  rid  of,'  for  the  benefit  of  their  lordly 
oppressors — not  set  free  from  the  noble  principles  of 
justice  and  mercy  to  them.  If  Abolitionists  have  put 
a  stop  to  all  such  discussions  of  slavery,  I,  for  one,  do 
most  heartily  rejoice  at  it.  The  fact  is,  the  South  is 
enraged,  because  we  have  exposed  her  horrible  hy 
pocrisy  to  the  world.  We  have  torn  off  the  mask, 
and  brought  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness. 

To  prove  to  thee  that  the  South,  as  a  body,  never 
was  prepared  for  emancipation,  I  might  detail  histori 
cal  facts,  which  are  stubborn  things ;  but  I  have  not 
the  time  to  go  into  this  subject  that  would  be  necessary. 
I  will,  therefore,  give  a  few  extracts  from  documents 
published  by  the  old  Abolition  Societies,  whose  prin 
ciple  was  gradualism.  In  1803,  in  the  report  of  the 
Delaware  Society,  I  find  the  following  statement : — 
'  The  general  temper  and  opinion  of  the  opulent  in 
this  state,  is  either  opposed  to  the  generous  principles 
of  emancipation  to  the  people  of  color,  or  indifferent 


100  TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION. 

to  the  success  of  the  work.'  In  1804,  when  a  Com 
mittee  was  appointed  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  Le 
gislature  of  North  Carolina,  we  find  the  following 
sentiment  expressed  in  their  Report : — '  They  believe 
that  public  opinion  in  that  state  is  exceedingly  hostile 
t9  ths  abolition  of  slavery  ;  and  every  attempt  towards 
emancipation  is  regarded  with  an  indignant  and  jeal 
ous  eye  ;  that  at  present,  the  inhabitants  of  that  State 
consider  the  preservation  of  their  lives,  and  all  they 
hold  dear  on  earth,  as  depending  on  the  continuance 
of  slavery,  and  are  even  riveting  more  firmly  the  fet 
ters  of  oppression.'  '  They  believe  that  great  difficul 
ty  would  attend  the  presentation  of  an  address  to  the 
public,  and  that,  if  presented,  it  would  not  be  read.' 
The  address  was,  however,  issued,  and  in  it  we  find 
this  complaint — '  Many  aspersions  have  been  cast  upon 
the  advocates  of  the  freedom  of  the  blacks,  by  mali 
cious  and  interested  men.'  In  1805,  in  the  Report  of 
the  Alexandria  Society,  District  of  Columbia,  they 
say — '  There  is  rather  a  disposition  to  increase  the 
measure  of  affliction  already  appointed  to  the  poor  de 
serted  African :'  and  complain  of  the  decline  of  the 
Society,  for  which  they  assign  several  reasons,  one  of 
which  is,  '  the  admission  of  slaveholders  into  fellow 
ship  at  its  formation.'  Several  of  the  Reports  state, 
that  they  fully  learned  the  impolicy  of  this  measure, 
by  the  violent  opposition  which  these  slaveholding 
members  made  to  their  efforts  for  emancipation.  Just 
as  well  might  a  Temperance  Society  admit  a  practi 
cal  drunkard  into  their  ranks,  as  for  an  Abolition  So 
ciety  to  admit  a  slaveholder  to  membership. 


TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION.  101 

In  1806,  the  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society 
says — '  We  believe  the  true  reason,  why  ostensible 
and  public  measures  are  not  pursued  by  the  advocates 
of  abolition  in  the  southern  states,  will  be  found  in  the 
pretty  general  impression,  that  it  would  not,  under  ex 
isting  circumstances,  and  jjti  the  present  temper 'of  the 
public  mind,  be  expedient  and  useful/  The  Wil 
mington  Report  '  laments  that  the  people  of  South 
Carolina  continue  opposed  to  our  cause  ' — and  in  1809, 
the  Report  of  this  same  Society  says,  '  We  regret  most 
sincerely  the  difficulty  we  labor  under  in  establishing 
t.corresponding  agents  in  the  southern  states,  on  whose 
fidelity  and  integrity  we  can  firmly  rely.'  In  1816, 
the  Delaware  Society  makes  the  following  confes 
sion — •  When  we  look  back  at  the  bright  prospects 
which  opened  on  this  cause  within  the  last  20  years, 
and  recur  to  the  joyful  feelings  excited  by  the  just 
anticipations  of  speedy  success  in  this  conflict  with 
cruelty  and  wrong,  we  cannot  but  feel  the  pressure  of 
that  gloom  which  is  the  consequence  of  disappoint 
ment  and  defeat.'  In  1826,  we  find  the  North  Caro 
lina  Report  acknowledging  that  *  the  gentlest  attempt 
to  agitate  the  subject,  or  the  slightest  hint  at  the  work 
of  emancipation,  is  sufficient  to  call  forth  their  indig 
nant  resentment,  as  if  their  dearest  rights  were  in 
vaded.' 

How,  then,  can  our  opponents  say,  that  the  cause 
of  emancipation  has  been  rolled  lack  by  us  ?  We 
ask,  when  was  it  ever  forward  ?  As  a  southerner,  I 
repeat  my  solemn  conviction,  from  my  own  experience^ 
and  from  all  I  can  learn  from  historical  facts,  and  the 

reports  of  the  Gradual  Emancipation  Societies  of  this 
9* 


102  TENDENCY  TOWARDS  EMANCIPATION. 

country,  and  the  scope  of  the  debates  which  took  place 
in  the  Kentucky,  Virginia  and  Maryland  Legislatures, 
that  it  never  was  forward.  If  the  tendencies  of  the 
age  are  towards  emancipation,  they  are  tendencies 
peculiar  to  this  age  in  the  United  States,  and  have 
been  brought  about  by  free  discussion,  and  in  accord 
ance,  too,  with  the  known  laws  of  mind  ;  for  collision 
of  mind  as  naturally  produces  light,  as  the  striking  of 
the  flint  and  the  steel  produces  fire.  Free  discussion 
is  this  collision,  and  the  results  are  visible  in  the  light 
which  is  breaking  forth  in  every  city,  town  and  vil 
lage,  and  spreading  over  the  hills  and  valleys,  through 
the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  our  land.  Yes  !  it 
has  already  reached  '  the  dark  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death '  in  the  South ;  and  in  a  few  brief  years,  He 
who  said,  '  Let  there  be  light,'  will  gather  this  moral 
effulgence  into  a  focal  point,  and  beneath  its  burning 
rays,  the  heart  of  the  slaveholder,  and  the  chains  of 
the  slave,  will  melt  like  wax  before  the  orb  of  day. 

Let  us,  then,  take  heed  lest  we  be  found  ^fighting 
against  God  while  standing  idle  in  the  market  place, 
or  endeavoring  to  keep  other  laborers  out  of  the  field 
now  already  white  to  the  harvest. 
Thy  Friend, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  XL 


THE    SPHERE    OF   WOMAN   AND    MAN   AS    MORAL    BEINGS 
THE    SAME. 

BROO  KLINE,  Mass.  Sth  month,  28th,  1837. 

DEAR  FRIEND  :  I  come  now  to  that  part  of  thy 
book,  which  is,  of  all  others,  the  most  important  to  the 
women  of  this  country ;  thy  *  general  views  in  rela 
tion  to  the  place  woman  is  appointed  to  fill  by  the 
dispensations  of  heaven.'  I  shall  quote  paragraphs 
from  thy  book,  ofTer  my  objections  to  them,  and  then 
throw  before  thee  my  own  views. 

Thou  sayest,  '  Heaven  has  appointed  to  one  sex 
the  superior,  and  to  the  other  the  subordinate  station, 
and  this  without  any  reference  to  the  character  or  con 
duct  of  either.'  This  is  an  assertion  without  proof. 
Thou  further  sayest,  that  '  it  was  designed  that  the 
mode  of  gaining  influence  and  exercising  power 
should  be  altogether  different  and  peculiar.'  Does 
the  Bible  teach  this  ?  '  Peace  on  earth,  and  good 
will  to  men,  is  the  character  of  all  the  rights  and 
privileges,  the  influence  and  the  power  of  woman? 
Indeed !  Did  our  Holy  Redeemer  preach  the  doc- 


104  THE    SPHERE    OF    WOMAN    AND   MAN 

trines  of  peace  to  our  sex  only  ?  '  A  man  may  act  on 
Society  by  the  collision  of  intellect,  in  public  debate  ; 
he  may  urge  his  measures  by  a  sense  of  shame,  by 
fear  and  by  personal  interest ;  he  may  coerce  by  the 
combination  of  public  sentiment ;  he  may  drive  by 
physical  force,  and  he  does  not  overstep  the  bounda 
ries  of  his  sphere.'  Did  Jesus,  then,  give  a  different 
rule  of  action  to  men  and  women  ?  Did  he  tell  his 
disciples,  when  he  sent  them  out  to  preach  the  gos 
pel,  that  man  might  appeal  to  the  fear,  and  shame, 
and  interest  of  those  he  addressed,  and  coerce  by  pub 
lic  sentiment,  and  drive  by  physical  force  ?  '  But 
(that)  all  the  power  and  all  the  conquests  that  are 
lawful  to  woman  are  those  only  which  appeal  to  the 
kindly,  generous,  peaceful  and  benevolent  principles  ? ' 
If  so,  I  should  come  to  a  very  different  conclusion 
from  the  one  at  which  thou  hast  arrived :  I  should 
suppose  that  woman  was  the  superior,  and  man  the 
subordinate  being,  inasmuch  as  moral  power  is  im 
measurably  superior  to  'physical  force.' 

*  Woman  is  to  win  every  thing  by  peace  and  love  ; 
by  making  herself  so  much  respected,  &c.  that  to 
yield  to  her  opinions,  and  to  gratify  her  wishes,  will 
be  the  free-will  offering  of  the  heart.'  This  principle 
may  do  as  the  rule  of  action  to  the  fashionable  belle, 
whose  idol  is  herself ;  whose  every  attitude  and 
smile  are  designed  to  win  the  admiration  of  others  to 
herself;  and  who  enjoys,  with  exquisite  delight,  the 
double-refined  incense  of  flattery  which  is  offered  to 
her  vanity,  by  yielding  to  her  opinions,  and  gratifying 
her  wishes,  because  they  are  hers.  But  to  the  hum 
ble  Christian,  who  feels  that  it  is  truth  which  she 


AS    MORAL    BEINGS    THE    SAME.  105 

seeks  to  recommend  to  others,  truth  which  she  wants 
them  to  esteem  and  love,  and  not  herself,  this  subtle 
principle  must  be  rejected  with  holy  indignation. 
Suppose  she  could  win  thousands  to  her  opinions, 
and  govern  them  by  her  wishes,  how  much  nearer 
would  they  be  to  Jesus  Christ,  if  she  presents  no 
higher  motive,  and  points  to  no  higher  leader? 

'  But  this  is  all  to  be  accomplished  in  the  domestic 
circle.'  Indeed !  '  Who  made  thee  a  ruler  and  a 
judge  over  all?  '  I  read  in  the  Bible,  that  Miriam,' 
and  Deborah,  and  Huldah,  were  called  to  fill  public 
stations  in  Church  and  State.  I  find  Anna,  the 
prophetess,  speaking  in  the  temple  *  unto  all  them 
that  looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem.'  During 
his  ministry  on  earth,  I  see  women  following  him 
from  town  to  town,  in  the  most  public  manner ;  I 
hear  the  woman  of  Samaria,  on  her  return  to  the 
city,  telling  the  men  to  come  and  see  a  man  who  had 
told  her  all  things  that  ever  she  did.  I  see  them 
even  standing  on  Mount  Calvary,  around  his  cross, 
in  the  most  exposed  situation  ;  but  He  never  rebuked 
them ;  He  never  told  them  it  was  unbecoming  their 
sphere  in  life  to  mingle  in  the  crowds  which  followed 
his  footsteps.  Then,  again,  I  see  the  cloven  tongues 
of  fire  resting  on  each  of  the  heads  of  the  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  disciples,  some  of  whom  were 
women  ;  yea,  I  hear  them  preaching  on  the  day  ol 
Pentecost  to  the  multitudes  who  witnessed  the  out 
pouring  of  the  spirit  on  that  glorious  occasion ;  for, 
unless  ivomen  as  well  as  men  received  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  prophesied,  what  did  Peter  mean  by  tell 
ing  them,  '  This  is  that  which  was  spoken  by  the 


106  THE   SPHERE   OF  WOMAN   AND   MAN 

prophet  Joel :  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last 
days,  said  God,  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all 
flesh :  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  proph 
esy.  .  .  .  And  on  my  servants  and  on  my  handmaid' 
ens,  I  will  pour  out  in  those  days  of  my  spirit ;  and 
they  shall  prophesy.1  This  is  the  plain  matter  of  fact, 
as  Clark  and  Scott,  Stratton  and  Locke,  all  allow. 
Mine  is  no  *  private  interpretation,'  no  mere  sectarian 
view. 

•I  find,  too,  that  Philip  had  four  daughters  which 
did  prophesy ;  and  what  is  still  more  convincing,  I 
read  in  the  xi.  of  I.  Corinthians,  some  particular  di 
rections  from  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  to  how  women 
were  to  pray  and  prophesy  in  the  assemblies  of  the 
people — not  in  the  domestic  circle.  On  examination, 
too,  it  appears  that  the  very  same  word,  Diakonos, 
which,  when  applied  to  Phoebe,  Romans  xvi.  1,  is 
translated  servant,  when  applied  to  Tychicus,  Ephe- 
sians  vi.  21,  is  rendered  minister.  Ecclesiastical 
History  informs  us,  that  this  same  Phcebe  was  pre 
eminently  useful,  as  a  minister  in  the  Church,  and 
that  female  ministers  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  first 
ages  of  Christianity.  And  what,  I  ask,  does  the 
Apostle  mean  when  he  says  in  Phillipians  iv.  3. — 
*  Help  those  women  who  labored  with  me  in  the  gos 
pel  '  ?  Did  these  holy  women  of  old  perform  all 
their  gospel  labors  in  '  the  domestic  and  social  circle  '  ? 
I  trow  not. 

Thou  sayest,  '  the  moment  woman  begins  to  feel 
the  promptings  of  ambition,  or  the  thirst  for  power, 
her  aegis  of  defence  is  gone.'  Can  man,  then,  retain 
his  aegis  when  he  indulges  these  guilty  passions  ?  Is 
it  woman  only  who  suffers  this  loss  ? 


AS    MORAL   BEINGS    THE    SAME.  107 

'  All  the  generous  promptings  of  chivalry,  all  the 
poetry  of  romantic  gallantry,  depend  upon  woman's 
retaining  her  place  as  dependent  and  defenceless,  and 
making  no  claims,  and  maintaining  no  rights,  but 
what  are  the  gifts  of  honor,  rectitude  and  love.' 

I  cannot  refrain  from  pronouncing  this  sentiment 
as  beneath  the  dignity  of  any  woman  who  names  the 
name  of  Christ.  No  woman,  who  understands  her 
dignity  as  a  moral,  intellectual,  and  accountable  be 
ing,  cares  aught  for  any  attention  or  any  protection, 
vouchsafed  by  '  the  promptings  of  chivalry,  and  the 
poetry  of  romantic  gallantry  '  ?  Such  a  one  loathes 
such  littleness,  and  turns  with  disgust  from  all  such 
silly  insipidities.  Her  noble  nature  is  insulted  by 
such  paltry,  sickening  adulation,  and  she  will  not 
stoop  to  drink  the  foul  waters  of  so  turbid  a  stream. 
If  all  this  sinful  foolery  is  to  be  withdrawn  from  our 
sex,  with  all  my  heart  I  say,  the  sooner  the  better. 
Yea,  I  say  more,  no  woman  who  lives  up  to  the  true 
glory  of  her  womanhood,  will  ever  be  treated  with 
such  practical  contempt.  Every  man,  when  in  the 
presence  of  true  moral  greatness,  '  will  find  an  influ 
ence  thrown  around  him,'  which  will  utterly  forbid 
the  exercise  of  *  the  poetry  of  romantic  gallantry.' 

What  dost  thou  mean  by  woman's  retaining  her 
place  as  defenceless  and  dependent  ?  Did  our  Heav 
enly  Father  furnish  man  with  any  offensive  or  de 
fensive  weapons  ?  Was  he  created  any  less  defence 
less  than  she  was  ?  Are  they  not  equally  defence 
less,  equally  dependent  on  Him  ?  What  did  Jesus 
say  to  his  disciples,  when  he  commissioned  them  to 
preach  the  gospel  ? — *  Behold,  I  send  you  forth  as 


108  THE    SPHERE    OF    WOMAN   AND   MAN 

SHEEP  in  the  midst  of  wolves  ;  be  ye  wise  as  ser 
pents,  and  harmless  as  doves.  What  more  could  he 
have  said  to  women  ? 

Again,  she  must  '  make  no  claims,  and  maintain  no 
rights,  but  what  are  the  gifts  of  honor,  rectitude  and 
love.'  From  whom  does  woman  receive  her  rights  ? 
From  God,  or  from  man  ?  What  dost  thou  mean  by 
saying,  her  rights  are  the  gifts  of  honor,  rectitude 
and  love  1  One  would  really  suppose  that  man,  as 
her  lord  and  master,  was  the  gracious  giver  of  her 
rights,  and  that  these  rights  were  bestowed  upon  her 
by  '  the  promptings  of  chivalry,  and  the  poetry  of  ro 
mantic  gallantry,' — out  of  the  abundance  of  his  hon 
or,  rectitude  and  love.  Now,  if  I  understand  the  real 
state  of  the  case,  woman's  rights  are  not  the  gifts  of 
man — no  !  nor  the  gifts  of  God.  His  gifts  to  her 
may  be  recalled  at  his  good  pleasure — but  her  rights 
are  an  integral  part  of  her  moral  being ;  they  cannot 
be  withdrawn ;  they  must  live  with  her  forever.  Her 
rights  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  her  duties ;  and,  so 
long  as  the  divine  commands  are  binding  upon  her, 
so  long  must  her  rights  continue. 

1  A  woman  may  seek  the  aid  of  co-operation  and 
combination  among  her  own  sex,  to  assist  her  in  her 
appropriate  offices  of  piety,  charity,'  &c.  Appropriate 
offices  !  Ah  !  here  is  the  great  difficulty.  What  are 
they  ?  Who  can  point  them  out  ?  Who  has  ever 
attempted  to  draw  a  line  of  separation  between  the 
duties  of  men  and  women,  as  moral  beings,  without 
committing  the  grossest  inconsistencies  on  the  one 
hand,  or  running  into  the  most  arrant  absurdities  or 
the  other  ? 


'V -.-;y  '-'-  ';&  ••  '•         ••<-••'  '  ;    ''-..    .V  ' 

AS   MORAL   BEINGS    THE    SAB1E.  109 

'  Whatever,  in  any  measure,  throws  a  woman  into 
the  attitude  of  a  combatant,  either  for  herself  or  oth 
ers — whatever  binds  her  in  a  party  con  flic  t— whatever 
obliges  her  in  any  way  to  exert  coercive  influences, 
throws  her  out  of  her  appropriate  sphere.'  If,  by  a 
combatant,  thou  meanest  one  who  *  drives  by  'physi 
cal  force?  then  I  say,  man  has  no  more  right  to  ap 
pear  as  such  a  combatant  than  woman ;  for  all  the 
pacific  precepts  of  the  gospel  were  given  to  him,  as 
well  as  to  her.  If,  by  a  party  conflict,  thou  meanest 
a  struggle  for  power,  either  civil  or  ecclesisastical, 
a  thirst  for  the  praise  and  the  honor  of  man,  why, 
then  I  would  ask,  is  this  the  proper  sphere  of  any 
moral,  accountable  being,  man  or  woman  ?  If,  by 
coercive  influences,  thou  meanest  the  use  of  force  or 
of  fear,  such  as  slaveholders  and  warriors  employ, 
then,  I  repeat,  that  man  has  no  more  right  to  exert 
these  than  woman.  All  such  influences  are  repudiat 
ed  by  the  precepts  and  examples  of  Christ,  and  his 
apostles ;  so  that,  after  all,  this  appropriate  sphere  of 
woman  is  just  as  appropriate  to  man.  These  '  gen 
eral  principles  are  correct,'  if  thou  wilt  only  permit 
them  to  be  of  general  application. 

Thou  sayest  that  the  propriety  of  woman's  coming 
forward  as  a  suppliant  for  a  portion  of  her  sex  who 
are  bound  in  cruel  bondage,  depends  entirely  on  its 
probable  results.  I  thought  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
were  to  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.  Did  Abraham 
reason  as  to  the  probable  results  of  his  offering  up 
Isaac  1  No  !  or  he  could  not  have  raised  his  hand 
against  the  life  of  his  son ;  because  in  Isaac,  he  had 
been  told,  his  seed  should  be  called,— that  seed  in 
10 


110  THE    SPHERE   OF  WOMAN   AND   MAN 

whom  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  were  to  be  blessed. 
O  !  when  shall  we  learn  that  God  is  wiser  than  man 
— that  his  ways  are  higher  than  our  ways,  his  thoughts 
than  our  thoughts — and  that  *  obedience  is  better  than 
sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams  ? '  If 
we  are  always  to  reason  on  the  probable  results  of 
performing  our  duty,  I  wonder  what  our  Master  meant 
by  telling  his  disciples,  that  they  must  become  like 
little  children.  I  used  to  think  he  designed  to  incul 
cate  the  necessity  of  walking  by  faith,  in  childlike 
simplicity,  docility  and  humility.  But  if  we  are  to 
reason  as  to  the  probable  results  of  obeying  the  in 
junctions  to  plead  for  the  widow  and  the  fatherless, 
and  to  deliver  the  spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  tbe  op 
pressor,  &c.,  then  I  do  not  know  what  he  meant  to 
teach. 

According  to  what  thou  sayest,  the  women  of  this 
country  are  not  to  be  governed  by  principles  of  duty, 
but  by  the  effect  their  petitions  produce  on  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress,  and  by  the  opinions  of  these  men. 
If  they  deem  them  '  obtrusive,  indecorous,  and  un 
wise,'  they  must  not  be  sent.  If  thou  canst  consent 
to  exchange  the  precepts  of  the  Bible  for  the  opin 
ions  of  such  a  body  of  men  as  now  sit  on  the  desti 
nies  of  this  nation,  I  cannot.  What  is  this  but 
obeying  man  rather  than  God,  and  seeking  the  praise 
of  man  rather  than  of  God  1  As  to  our  petitions  in 
creasing  the  evils  of  slavery,  this  is  merely  an  opin 
ion,  the  correctness  or  incorrectness  of  which  remains 
to  be  proved.  When  I  hear  Senator  Preston  of 
South  Carolina,  saying,  that  '  he  regarded  the  con 
certed  movement  upon  the  District  of  Columbia  as 


AS    MORAL   BEINGS   THE    SAME.  Ill 

an  attempt  to  storm  the  gates  of  the  citadel — as 
throwing  the  bridge  over  the  moat ' — and  declaring 
that  « the  South  must  resist  the  danger  in  its  incep 
tion,  or  it  would  soon  become  irresistible  ' — I  feel  con 
fident  that  petitions  will  effect  the  work  of  emajicipa- 
tion,  thy  opinion  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
And  when  I  hear  Francis  W.  Pickens,  from  the 
same  State,  saying  in  a  speech  delivered  in  Congress 
— *  Mr.  Speaker,  we  cannot  mistake  all  these  things. 
The  truth  is,  the  moral  power  of  the  world  is  against 
us.  It  is  idle  to  disguise  it.  We  must,  sooner  or 
later,  meet  the  great  issue  that  is  to  be  made  on  this 
subject.  Deeply  connected  with  this,  is  the  move 
ment  to  be  made  on  the  District  of  Columbia.  If  the 
power  be  asserted  in  Congress  to  interfere  here,  or 
any  approach  be  made  toward  that  end,  it  will  give  a 
shock  to  our  institutions  and  the  country,  the  conse 
quences  of  which  no  man  can  foretell.  Sir,  as  well 
might  you  grapple  with  iron  grasp  into  the  very 
heart  and  vitals  of  South  Carolina,  as  to  touch  this 
subject  here.'  When  I  hear  these  things  from  the 
lips  of  keen-eyed  politicians  of  the  South,  northern 
apologies  for  not  interfering  with  the  subject  of  slave 
ry,  *  lest  it  should  increase,  rather  than  diminish  the 
evils  it  is  wished  to  remove  '  affect  me  little. 

Another  objection  to  woman's  petitions  is,  that  they 
may  '  tend  to  bring  females,  as  petitioners  and  parti 
sans,  into  every  political  measure  that  may  tend  to 
injure  and  oppress  their  sex.'  As  to  their  ever  be 
coming  partisans,  i.  e.  sacrificing  principles  to  power 
or  interest,  I  reprobate  this  under  all  circumstances, 

and  in  both  sexes.     But  I  trust  my  sisters    may  al 
10* 


112  THE    SPHERE    OF  WOMAN   AND   MAN 

ways  be  permitted  to  petition  for  a  redress  of  griev 
ances.     Why  not  ?     The  right  of  petition  is  the  only 
political  right  that  women  have :  why  not  let  them 
exercise  it  whenever  they  are  aggrieved  ?     Our  fath 
ers  waged  a   bloody  conflict  with   England,  because 
they  were  taxed  without  being  represented.     This  is 
just  wKat   unmarried  women   of  property  now  are. 
They  were  not  willing  to  be  governed  by  laws  which 
they  had  no  voice  in  making ;  but  this  is  the  way  in 
which  women   are   governed   in  this    Republic.     If, 
then,  we  are   taxed  without   being   represented,  and 
governed  by  laws  we  have  no  voice  in  framing,  then, 
surely,  we  ought  to  be  permitted  at  least  to  remon 
strate  against  '  every  political  measure  that  may  tend 
to  injure  and  oppress  our  sex  in  various  parts  of  the 
nation,  and  under  the  various  public  measures  that 
may  hereafter  be  enforced.'     Why  not?     Art  thou 
afraid  to  trust   the  women   of  this    country  with  dis 
cretionary   power   as   to   petitioning?     Is  there   not 
sound   principle  and  common  sense  enough   among 
them,  to  regulate  the  exercise  of  this  right  ?    I  believe 
they  will  always  use  it  wisely.     I  am  not  afraid  to 
trust  my  sisters — not  L  -c  ' 

Thou  sayest,  *  In  this  country,  petitions  to  Con 
gress,  in  reference  to  official  duties  of  legislators, 
seem,  IN  ALL  CASES,  to  fall  entirely  without  the 
sphere  of  female  duty.  Men  are  the  proper  persons 
to  make  appeals  to  the  rulers  whom  they  appoint,' 
&c.  Here  I  entirely  dissent  from  thee.  The  fact 
that  women  are  denied  the  right  of  voting  for  mem 
bers  of  Congress,  is  but  a  poor  reason  why  they 
should  also  be  deprived  of  the  right  of  petition.  If 


AS  MORAL  BEINGS  THE  SAME.          113 

their  numbers  are  counted  to  swell  the  number  of 
Representatives  in  our  State  and  National  Legisla 
tures,  the  very  least  that  can  be  done  is  to  give  them 
the  right  of  petition  in  all  cases  whatsoever ;  and 
without  any  abridgement.  If  not,  they  are  mere 
slaves,  known  only  through  their  masters. 

In  my  next,  I  shall  throw  out  my  own  views  with 
regard  to  '  the  appropriate  sphere  of  woman  ' — and 
for  the  present,  subscribe  myself, 

Thy  Friend,  A.  E.  GRIMKE. 

10** 


LETTER  XII. 

HUMAN  RIGHTS  NOT  FOUNDED  ON  SEX. 

EAST  BOYLSTON,  Mass.  Wth  mo.  2d,  1837. 

DEAR  FRIEND  :  In  my  last,  I  made  a  sort  of  run 
ning  commentary  upon  thy  views  of  the  appropriate 
sphere  of  woman,  with  something  like  a  promise,  that 
in  my  next,  I  would  give  thee  my  own. 

The  investigation  of  the  rights  of  the  slave  has  led 
me  to  a  better  understanding  of  my  own.  I  have 
found  the  Anti-Slavery  cause  to  be  the  high  school  of 
morals  in  our  land — the  school  in  which  human  rights 
are  more  fully  investigated,  and  better  understood 
and  taught,  than  in  any  other.  Here  a  great  funda 
mental  principle  is  uplifted  and  illuminated,  and 
from  this  central  light,  rays  innumerable  stream  all 
around.  Human  beings  have  rights,  because  they 
are  moral  beings  :  the  rights  of  all  men  grow  out  of 
their  moral  nature ;  and  as  all  men  have  the  same 
moral  nature,  they  have  essentially  the  same  rights. 
These  rights  may  be  wrested  from  the  slave,  but  they 
cannot  be  alienated :  his  title  to  himself  is  as  perfect 
now,  as  is  that  of  Lyman  Beecher  :  it  is  stamped  on 
his  moral  being,  and  is,  like  it,  imperishable.  Now 


HUMAN   RIGHTS   NOT   FOUNDED   ON   SEX.  115 

if  rights  are  founded  in  the  nature  of  our  moral  being1, 
then  the  mere  circumstance  of  sex  does  not  give  to 
man  higher  rights  and  responsibilities,  than  to  woman. 
To  suppose  that  it  does,  would  be  to  deny  the  self- 
evident  truth,  that  the  *  physical  constitution  is  the 
mere  instrument  of  the  moral  nature.'  To  suppose 
that  it  does,  would  be  to  break  up  utterly  the  relations, 
of  the  two  natures,  and  to  reverse  their  functions,  ex 
alting  the  animal  nature  into  a  monarch,  and  hum 
bling  the  moral  into  a  slave  ;  making  the  former  a 
proprietor,  and  the  latter  its  property.  When  hu 
man  beings  are  regarded  as  moral  beings,  sex,  instead 
of  being  enthroned  upon  the  summit,  administering 
upon  rights  and  responsibilities,  sinks  into  insignifi 
cance  and  nothingness.  My  doctrine  then  is,  that 
whatever  it  is  morally  right  for  man  to  do,  it  is 
morally  right  for  woman  to  do.  Our  duties  orig 
inate,  not  from  difference  of  sex,  but  from  the  di 
versity  of  our  relations  in  life,  the  various  gifts  and 
talents  committed  to  our  care,,  and  the  different  eras 
in  which  we  live. 

This  regulation  of  duty  by  the  mere  circumstance 
of  sex,  rather  than  by  the  fundamental  principle  of 
moral  being,  has  led  to  all  that  multifarious  train  of 
evils  flowing  out  of  the  anti-christian  doctrine  of  mas 
culine  and  feminine  virtues.  By  this  doctrine,  man 
has  b3en  converted  into  the  warrior,  and  clothed 
with  sternness,  and  those  other  kindred  qualities, 
which  in  common  estimation  belong  to  his  character 
as  a  man ;  whilst  woman  has  been  taught  to  lean 
upon  an  arm  of  flesh,  to  sit  as  a  doll  arrayed  in  '  gold, 
and  pearls,  and  costly  array,'  to  be  admired  for  her 


116  HUMAN   RIGHTS 

personal  charms,  and  caressed  and  humored  like  a 
spoiled  child,  or  converted  into  a  mere  drudge  to  suit 
the  convenience  of  her  lord  and  master.  Thus  have 
all  the  diversified  relations  of  life  been  filled  with 
1  confusion  and  every  evil  work.'  This  principle 
has  given  to  man  a  charter  for  the  exercise  of  tyran 
ny  and  selfishness,  pride  and  arrogance,  lust  and  bru 
tal  violence.  It  has  robbed  woman  of  essential 
rights,  the  right  to  think  and  speak  and  act  on  all 
great  moral  questions,  just  as  men  think  and  speak 
and  act ;  the  right  to  share  their  responsibilities,  per 
ils  and  toils;  the  right  to  fulfil  the  great  end  of  her 
being,  as  a  moral,  intellectual  and  immortal  creature, 
and  of  glorifying  God  in  her  body  and  her  spirit 
which  are  His.  Hitherto,  instead  of  being  a  help 
meet  to  man,  in  the  highest,  noblest  sense  of  the 
term,  as  a  companion,  a  co-worker,  an  equal;  she 
has  been  a  mere  appendage  of  his  being,  an  instru 
ment  of  his  convenience  and  pleasure,  the  pretty  toy 
with  which  he  wiled  away  his  leisure  moments,  or 
the  pet  animal  whom  he  humored  into  playfulness 
and  submission.  Woman,  instead  of  being  regarded 
as  the  equal  of  man,  has  uniformly  been  looked 
down  upon  as  his  inferior,  a  mere  gift  to  fill  up  the 
measure  of  his  happiness.  In  'the  poetry  of  roman 
tic  gallantry,'  it  is  true,  she  has  been  called  !  the  last 
best  gift  of  God  to  man ;'  but  I  believe  I  speak  forth 
the  words  of  truth  and  soberness  when  I  affirm,  that 
woman  never  was  given  to  man.  She  was  created, 
like  him.  in  the  image  of  God,  and  crowned  with 
glory  and  honor  ;  created  only  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels, — Got,  as  is  almost  universally  assumed,  a  little 


KOT  FOUNDED  ON  SEX.  117 

lower  than  man ;  on  her  brow,  as  well  as  on  his,  was 
placed  the  '  diadem  of  beauty,'  and  in  her  hand  the 
sceptre  of  universal  dominion.  Gen  :  i.  27,  28. 
'The  last  best  gift  of  God  to  man!'  Where  is  the 
scripture  warrant  for  this  'rhetorical  flourish,  this 
spbndid  absurdity  ?'  Let  us  examine  the  account  of 
her  creation.  '  And  the  rib  which  the  Lord  God  had 
taken  from  man,  made  he  a  woman,  and  brought  her 
unto  the  man.'  Not  as  a  gift — for  Adam  immediate 
ly  recognized  her  as  a  part  of  himself- — ('  this  is  now 
bone  of  my  bone,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh') — a  compan 
ion  and  equal,  not  one  hair's  breadth  beneath  him  in 
the  majesty  and  glory  of  her  moral  being;  not  placed 
under  his  authority  as  a  subject,  but  by  his  side,  on 
the  same  platform  of  human  rights,  under  the  gov 
ernment  of  God  only.  This  idea  of  woman's  being 
*  the  last  best  gift  of  God  to  man,'  however  pretty  it 
may  sound  to  the  ears  of  those  who  love  to  discourse 
upon  *  the  poetry  of  romantic  gallantry,  and  the  gen 
erous  promptings  of  chivalry,'  has  nevertheless  been 
the  means  of  sinking  her  from  an  end  into  a  mere 
means — of  turning  her  into  an  appendage  to  man,  in 
stead  of  recognizing  her  as  a  part  of  man — of  de 
stroy  ing  her  individuality,  and  rights,  and  responsi 
bilities,  and  merging  her  moral  being  in  that  of  man. 
Instead  of  Jehovah  being  her  king,  her  lawgiver,  and 
her  judge,  she  has  been  taken  out  of  the  exalted 
scale  of  existence  in  which  He  placed  her,  and  sub 
jected  to  the  despotic  control  of  man. 

I  have  often  been  amused  at  the  vain  efforts  made 
to  define  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  immortal 
beings  as  men  a.nd  women.  No  one  has  yet  found 


1 18  HUMAN   RIGHTS 

out  just  where  the  line  of  separation  between  them 
should  be  drawn,  and  for  this  simple  reason,  that  no 
one  knows  just  how  far  below  man  woman  is,  wheth 
er  she  be  a  head  shorter  in  her  moral  responsibilities,  or 
head  and  shoulders,  or  the  full  length  of  his  noble  stat 
ure,  below  him,  i.  e.  under  his  feet.  Confusion,  un 
certainty,  and  great  inconsistencies,  must  exist  on  this 
point,  so  long  as  woman  is  regarded  in  the  least  de 
gree  inferior  to  man  ;  but  place  her  where  her  Maker 
placed  her,  on  the  same  high  level  of  human  rights 
with  man,  side  by  side  with  him,  and  difficulties  van 
ish,  the  mountains  of  perplexity  flow  down  at  the  pres 
ence  of  this  grand  equalizing  principle.  Measure 
her  rights  and  duties  by  the  unerring  standard  of 
moral  being,  not  by  the  false  weights  and  measures 
of  a  mere  circumstance  of  her  human  existence,  and 
then  the  truth  will  be  self-evident,  that  whatever  it  is 
morally  right  for  a  man  to  do,  it  is  morally  right  for  a 
woman  to  do.  I  recognize  no  rights  but  human  rights 
— I  know  nothing  of  men's  rights  and  women's  rights  ; 
for  in  Christ  Jesus,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female. 
It  is  my  solemn  conviction,  that,  until  this  principle  of 
equality  is  recognised  and  embodied  in  practice,  the 
church  can  do  nothing  effectual  for  the  permanent  refor 
mation  of  the  world.  Woman  was  the  first  trans 
gressor,  and  the  first  victim  of  power.  In  all  heath- 
.  en  nations,  she  has  been  the  slave  of  man,  and 
Christian  nations  have  never  acknowledged  her  rights. 
Nay  more,  no  Christian  denomination  or  Society  has 
ever  acknowledged  them  on  the  broad  basis  of  hu 
manity.  I  know  that  in  some  denominations,  she  is 
permitted  to  preach  the  gospel ;  not  from  a  con  vie- 


NOT   FOUNDED    ON    SEX.  119 

tion  of  her  rights,  nor  upon  the  ground  of  her  equality 
as  a  human  being,  but  of  her  equality  in  spiritual  gifts 
— for  we  find  that  woman,  even  in  these  Societies,  is 
allowed  no  voice  in  framing  the  Discipline  by  which 
she  is  to  be  governed.  Now,  I  believe  it  is  woman's 
right  to  have  a  voice  in  all  the  laws  and  regulations 
by  which  she  is  to  be  governed,  whether  in  Church 
or  State  ;  and  that  the  present  arrangements  of  soci 
ety,  on  these  points,  are  a  violation  of  human  rights, 
a  rank  usurpation  of  pmver,  a  violent  seizure  and 
confiscation  of  what  is  sacredly  and  inalienably  hers — 
thus  inflicting-  upon  woman  outrageous  wrongs, 
working  mischief  incalculable  in  the  social  circle,  and 
in  its  influence  on  the  world  producing  only  evil,  and 
that  continually.  If  Ecclesiastical  and  Civil  gov 
ernments  are  ordained  of  God,  then  I  contend  that 
woman  has  just  as  much  right  to  sit  in  solemn  coun 
sel  in  Conventions,  Conferences,  Associations  and 
General  Assemblies,  as  man — just  as  much  right  to 
it  upon  the  throne  of  England,  or  in  the  Presiden 
tial  chair  of  the  United  States. 

Dost  thou  ask  me,  if  I  would  wish 'to  see  woman 
engaged  in  the  contention  and  strife  of  sectarian  con 
troversy,  or  in  the  intrigues  of  political  partizans  ?  I 
say  no !  never — never.  I  rejoice  that  she  does  not 
stand  on  the  same  platform  which  man  now  occupies 
in  these  respects ;  but  I  mourn,  also,  that  he  should 
thus  prostitute  his  higher  nature,  and  vilely  cast 
away  his  birthright.  I  prize  the  purity  of  his  char 
acter  as  highly  as  I  do  that  of  hers.  As  a  moral  be 
ing,  whate ver  it  is  morally  wrong  for  her  to  do,  it  is 
morally  wrong  for  him  to  do.  The  fallacious  doc- 


120  HUMAN  RIGHTS 

trine  of  male  and  female  virtues  has  well  nigh  ruin 
ed  all  that  is  morally  great  and  lovely  in  his  charac 
ter  :  he  has  been  quite  as  deep  a  sufferer  by  it  as 
woman,  though  mostly  in  different  respects  and  by 
other  processes.  As  my  time  is  engrossed  by  the 
pressing  responsibilities  of  daily  public  duty,  I  have 
no  leisure  for  that  minute  detail  which  would  be  re 
quired  for  the  illustration  and  defence  of  these  princi 
ples.  Thou  wilt  find  a  wide  field  opened  before  thee, 
in  the  investigation  of  which,  I  doubt  not,  thou  wilt 
be  instructed.  Enter  this  field,  and  explore  it :  thou 
wilt  find  in  it  a  hid  treasure,  more  precious  than  ru 
bies — a  fund,  a  mine  of  principles,  as  new  as  they  are 
great  and  glorious.  . 

Thou  sayest,  '  an  ignorant,  a  narrow-minded,  or  a 
stupid  woman,  cannot  feel  nor  understand  the  ration 
ality,  the  propriety,  or  the  beauty  of  this  relation' — i. 
e.  subordination  to  man.  Now,  verily,  it  does  appear 
to  me,  that  nothing  but  a  narrow-minded  view  of  the 
subject  of  human  rights  and  responsibilities  can  in 
duce  any  one  to  believe  in  this  subordination  to  a  fal 
lible  being.  Sure  I  am,  that  the  signs  of  the  times 
clearly  indicate  a  vast  and  rapid  change  in  public  sen 
timent,  on  this  subject.  Sure  I  am  that  she  is  not  to 
be,  as  she  has  b.een,  '  a  mere  second-hand  agent'  in 
the  regeneration  of  a  fallen  world,  but  the  acknowl 
edged  equal  and  co-worker  with  man  in  this  glorious 
work.  Not  that  '  she  will  carry  her  measures  by 
tormenting  when  she  cannot  please,  or  by  petulant 
complaints  or  obtrusive  interference,  in  matters  which 
are  out  of  her  sphere,  and  which  she  cannot  compre 
hend.'  But  just  in  proportion  as  her  moral  and  in- 


NOT   FOUNDED    ON    SEX.  121 

tellectual  capacities  become  enlarged,  she  will  rise 
higher  and  higher  in  the  scale  of  creation,  until  she 
reaches  that  elevation  prepared  for  her  by  her  Maker, 
and  upon  whose  summit  she  was  originally  stationed, 
only  '  a  little  lower  than  the  angels.'  Then  will  it 
be  seen  that  nothing  which  concerns  the  weil-being 
of  mankind  is  either  beyond  her  sphere,  or  above  her 
comprehension :  Then  will  it  be  seen  *  that  America 
will  be  distinguished  above  all  other  nations  for  well 
educated  women,  and  for  the  influence  they  will  ex 
ert  on  the  general  interests  of  society.' 

But  I  must  close  with  recommending  to  thy  peru 
sal,  my  sister's  Letters  on  the  Province  of  Woman, 
published  in  the  New  England  Spectator,  and  repub- 
lished  by  Isaac  Knapp  of  Boston.  As  she  has  taken 
up  this  subject  so  fully,  I  have  only  glanced  at  it. 
That  thou  and  all  my  country-women  may  better  un 
derstand  tbe  true  dignity  of  woman,  is  the  sincere 
desire  of 

Thy  Friend, 

A.  E.  GRIMKE. 


LETTER  XIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS, CONCLUSION. 

HOLLISTON,  Mass.  IQtk  month,  23d,  1837. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :  I  resume  my  pen,  to  gather  up 
a  few  fragments  of  thy  Essay,  that  have  not  yet  been 
noticed,  and  in  love  to  bid  thee  farewell. 

Thou  appearest  to  think,  that  it  is  peculiarly  the  duty 
of  women  to  educate  the  little  children  of  this  nation. 
But  why,  I  would  ask— why  are  they  any  more  bound  to 
engage  in  this  sacred  employment,  than  men  ?  I  be 
lieve,  that  as  soon  as  the  rights  of  women  are  under 
stood,  our  brethren  will  see  and  feel  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  co-operate  with  us,  in  this  high  and  holy  vo 
cation,  of  training  up  little  children  in  the  way  they 
should  go.  And  the  very  fact  of  their  mingling  in 
intercourse  with  such  guileless  and  gentle  spirits,  will 
tend  to  soften  down  the  asperities  of  their  characters, 
and  clothe  them  with  the  noblest  and  sublimest  Chris 
tian  virtues.  I  know  that  this  work  is  deemed  be 
neath  the  dignity  of  man  ;  but  how  great  the  error  ! 
I  once  heard  a  man,  who  had  labored  extensively 
among  children,  say,  '  I  never  feel  so  near  heaven,  as 


MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS.  123 

when  I  am  teaching  these  little  ones.'  He  was  right ; 
and  I  trust  the  time  is  coming,  when  the  occupation  of 
an  instructer  to  children  will  he  deemed  the  most 
honorable  of  human  employment.  If  it  is  drudgery 
to  teach  these  little  ones,  then  it  is  the  duty  _of  men 
to  bear  a  part  of  that  burthen  ;  if  it  is  a  privilege  and 
an  honor,  then  we  generously  invite  them  to  share 
that  honor  and  privilege  with  us. 

I  know  some  noble  instances  of  this  union  of 
principles  and  employment,  and  am  fully  settled  in 
the  belief,  that  abolition  doctrines  are  pre-eminently 
calculated  to  qualify  men  and  women  to  become 
faithful  and  efficient  teachers.  They  alone  teach  fully 
the  doctrine  of  human  rights ;  and  to  know  and  ap 
preciate  these,  is  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  the 
wisely  successful  performance  of  the  duties  of  a 
teacher.  The  right  understanding  of  these  will  qual 
ify  her  to  teach  the  fundamental,  but  unfashionable  doc 
trine,  that '  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,'  and  that 
he  that  despiseth  the  colored  man,  because  he  is  '  guil 
ty  of  a  skin  not  colored  like  our  own,'  reproacheth 
his  Maker  for  having  given  him  that  ebon  hue.  I 
consider  it  absolutely  indispensable,  that  this  truth 
should  be  sedulously  instilled  into  the  mind  of  every 
child  in  our  republic.  I  know  of  no  moral  truth  •  of 
greater  importance  at  the  present  crisis.  Those  teach 
ers,  who  are  not  prepared  to  teach  this  in  all  its  full 
ness,  are  deficient  in  one  of  the  most  sterling  elements 
of  moral  character,  and  are  false  to  the  holy  trust 
committed  to  them,  and  utterly  unfit  to  train  up  the 
children  of  this  generation.  So  far  from  urging  the 
deficiency  of  teachers  in  this  country,  as  a  reason  why 


524  MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS. 

xvomen  should  keep  out  of  the  anti-slavery  excitement, 
I  would  say  to  my  sisters,  if  you  wish  to  become  pre 
eminently  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  your  arduous 
duties,  come  into  the  abolition  ranks,  enter  this  high 
school  of  morals,  and  drink  from  the  deep  fountains  of 
philanthropy  and  Christian  equality,  whence  the  wa 
ters  of  healing  are  welling  forth  over  wide  desert  wastes, 
and  making  glad  the  city  of  our  God.  Intellectual  en 
dowments  are  good,  but  a  high  standard  of  moral 
principle  is  better,  is  essential.  As  a  nation,  we  have 
too  long  educated  the  mind,  and  left  the  heart  a  moral 
waste.  We  have  fully  and  fearfully  illustrated  the 
truth  of  the  Apostle's  declaration  :  *  Knowledge  puffeth 
up.'  We  have  indeed  been  puffed  up,  vaunting  our 
selves  in  our  mental  endowments  and  national  great 
ness.  But  we  are  beginning  to  realize,  that  it  is 
'  Righteousness  which  exalteth  a  nation.' 

Thou  sayest,  when  a  woman  is  asked  to  sign  a  pe 
tition,  or  join  an  Anti- Slavery  Society,  it  is  *  for  the 
purpose  of  contributing  her  measure  of  influence  to 
keep  up  agitation  in  Congress,  to  promote  the  excite 
ment  of  the  North  against  the  iniquities  of  the  South, 
to  coerce  the  South  by  fear,  shame,  anger,  and  a  sense 
of  odium,  to  do  what  she  is  determined  not  to  do.' 
Indeed !  Are  these  the  only  motives  presented  to  the 
daughters  of  America,  for  laboring  in  the  glorious 
cause  of  Human  Rights  ?  Let  us  examine  them. 
1.  '  To  keep  up  agitation  in  Congress.'  Yes — for  I 
can  adopt  this  language  of  Moore  of  Virginia,  in  the 
Legislature  of  that  State,  in  1832 :  '  I  should  regret 
at  all  times  the  existence  of  any  unnecessary  excite 
ment  in  the  country  on  any  subject ;  but  I  confess, 


MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS.  125 

I  see  no  reason  to  lament  that  which  may  have  arisen 
on  the  present  occasion.     It  is  often  necessary  that 
there  should  be  some  excitement  among-  the  people, 
to  induce  them  to  turn   their  attention  to    questions 
deeply  affecting  the  welfare   of  the  Commonwealth  ; 
and  there  never  can  arise  any  subject  more   worthy 
their  attention,  than  that  of  the  abolition  of  slavery.' 
2.  '  To  promote  the  excitement  of  the  North  against 
the  iniquities  of  the  South.'     Yes,  and   against  her 
own    sinful   copartnership     in    those   iniquities.      I 
believe  the  discussion  of  Human  Rights  at  the  North 
has  already  been  of  incalculable   advantage  to    this 
country.     It  is  producing  the  happiest  influence  upon 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  it ; 
just  such  results  as  Thomas  Clarkson  tells  us,  were 
produced  in  England  by  the  agitation  of  the   subject 
there.     Says  he,  '  Of  the  immense  advantages  of  this 
contest,  I  know  not  how  to  speak.     Indeed,  the  very 
agitation  of  the  question,  which  it  involved,  has  been 
highly  important.     Never  was  the   heart  of  man  so 
expanded  ;  never  were   its   generous   sympathies   so 
generally  and  soperseveringly  excited-     These  sym 
pathies,  thus  called  into  existence,  have  been   useful 
preservatives  of  national  virtue.'     I,  therefore,   wish 
very  much  to  promote   the  Anti- Slavery   excitement 
at  the  North,  because  I  believe  it  will  prove  a   useful 
preservative  of  national  virtue.      3.  '  To  coerce   the 
South  by  fear,  shame,  anger,  and  a  sense  of  odinm.' 
It  is  true,  that  I    feel    the    imminent    danger    of  the 
South  so  much,  that  I  would  fain   «  save  them    with 
fear,  pulling  them  out  of  the  fire  ;'    for,  if  they   ever 
are  saved,  they  will  indeed  be    '  as  a  brand  pluck- 


126  MISCELLANEOUS  KEMAKRS. 

ed  out  of  the  burning.'  Nor  do  I  see  any  thing 
wrong  in  influencing  slaveholders  by  a  feeling  of 
shame  and  odium,  as  well  as  by  a  sense  of  guilt. 
Why  may  not  abolitionists  speak  some  things  to  their 
shame,  as  the  Apostle  did  to  the  Corinthians  ?  As  to 
anger,  it  is  no  design  of  ours  to  excite  so  wicked  a 
passion.  We  cannot  help  it,  if,  in  rejecting  the  truth, 
they  become  angry.  Could  Stephen  help  the  anger 
of  the  Jews,  when  '  they  gnashed  upon  him  with 
their  teeth'  ? 

But  I  had  thought  the  principal  motives  urged  by 
abolitionists  were  not  these  ;  but  that  they  endeavored 
to  excite  men  and  women  to  active  exertion, — first,  to 
cleanse  their  own  hands  of  the  sin  of  slavery,  and 
secondly,  to  save  the  South,  if  possible,  and  the  North, 
at  any  rate,  from  the  impending  judgments  of  heaven. 
The  result  of  their  mission  in  this  country,  cannot 
in  the  least  affect  the  validity  of  that  mission.  .  Like 
Noah,  they  may  preach  in  vain ;  if  so,  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  South  can  no  more  be  attributed  to  them, 
than  the  destruction  of  the  antediluvian  world  to 
him.  '  In  vain,' did  I  say?  Oh  no!  The  discus 
sion  of  the  rights  of  the  slave  has  opened  the  way 
for  the  discussion  of  other  rights,  and  the  ultimate 
result  will  most  certainly  be,  '  the  breaking  of  every 
yoke,'  the  letting  the  oppressed  of  every  grade  and 
description  go  free, — an  emancipation  far  more  glori 
ous  than  any  the  world  has  ever  yet  seen, — an  intro 
duction  into  that  *  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made 
his  people  free.' 

I  will  now  say  a  few  words  on  thy  remarks  about 
Esther.  Thou  sayest,  '  When  a  woman  is  placed  in 


MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS. 

similar  circumstances,  where  death  to  herself  and  all 
her  nation  is  one  alternative,  and  there  is  nothing" 
worse  to  fear,  but  something  to  hope  as  the  other  al 
ternative,  then  she  may  safely  follow  such  an  exam 
ple.'  In  this  sentence,  thou  hast  conceded  every 
thing  I  could  wish,  and  proved  beyond  dispute  just 
what  I  adduced  this  text  to  prove  in  iiiy  Appeal.  I 
will  explain  myself.  Look  at  the  condition  of  our 
country — Church  and  State  deeply  involved  in  the 
enormous  crime  of  slavery:  ah!  more — claiming 
the  sacred  volume,  as  our  charter  for  the  collar  and 
chain.  What  then  can  we  expect,  but  that  the  vials 
of  divine  wrath  will  be  poured  out  upon  a  nation  of 
oppressors  and  hypocrites  ?  for  we  are  loud  in  our 
professions  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  liberty.  Now, 
as  a  Southerner,  I  know  that  reflecting  slaveholders 
expect  their  peculiar  institution  to  be  overthrown  in 
blood.  Eead  the  opinion  of  Moore  of  Virginia,  as 
expressed  by  him  in  the  House  of  Delegates  in  1832 : 
— *  What  must  be  the  ultimate  consequence  of  retain 
ing  the  slaves  amongst  us  ?  The  answer  to  this  en 
quiry  is  both  obvious  and  appalling.  It  is,  that  the 
time  will  come,  and  at  no  distant  day,  when  we  shall 
be  involved  in  all  the  horrors  of  a  servile  war,  which 
will  not  end  until  both  sides  have  suffered  much,  un 
til  the  land  shall  everywhere  be  red  with  blood,  and 
until  the  slaves  or  the  whites  are  totally  exterminat 
ed.  If  there  be  any  truth  in  history,  and  if  the  time 
has  not  arrived  when  causes  have  ceased  to  produce 
their  legitimate  results,  the  dreadful  catastrophe  in 
which  I  have  predicted  that  our  slave  system  must 
resuit,  if  persisted  in,  is  as  inevitable  as  any  event 
which  has  already  transpired.' 
II 


128  MISCELLANEOUS    REMARKS. 

Here,  then,  is  one  alternative,  and  just  as  tremen-' 
dous  an  alternative  as  that  which  was  presented  to 
the  Queen  of  Persia.  '  There  is  nothing  worse  to 
fear '  for  the  South,  let  the  results  of  abolition  efforts 
be  what  they  may,  whilst  *  there  is  something  to  hope 
as  the  other  alternative;'  because  if  she  will  receive 
the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  she  may  repent  and  be 
saved.  So  that,  after  all,  according  to  thy  own  rea 
soning,  the  women  of  America  '  may  safely  follow 
such  an  example.' 

After  endeavoring  to  show  that  woman  has  no 
moral  right  to  exercise  the  right  of  petition  for  the 
dumb  and  stricken  slave  ;  no  business  to  join,  in  any 
way,  in  the  excitement  which  anti-slavery  principles 
are  producing  in  our  country ;  no  'business  to  join 
abolition  societies,  &c.  &c. ;  thou  professest  to  tell  out 
sisters  what  they  are  to  do,  in  order  to  bring  the  sys 
tem  of  slavery  to  an  end.  And  now,  my  dear  friend,, 
what  does  all  that  thou  hast  said  in  many  pages, 
amount  to  ?  Why,  that  women  are  to  exert  their  in 
fluence  in  private  life,  to  allay  the  excitement  which 
exists  on  this  subject,  and  to  quench  the  flame  of  sym 
pathy  in  the  hearts  of  their  fathers,  husbands,  broth 
ers  and  sons.  Fatal  delusion  1  Will  Christian  women 
heed  such  advice  1 

Hast  thou  ever  asked  thyself,  what  the  slave  would 
think  of  thy  book,  if  he  could  read  it?  Dost  thou 
know  that,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  not  a  word 
of  compassion  for  him  has  fallen  from  thy  pen  1  Ke- 
call,  I  pray,  the  memory  of  the  hours  which  thou 
spent  in  writing  it !  Was  the  paper  once  moistened 
by  the  tear  of  pity  ?  Did  thy  heart  once  swell  with 


MISCELLANEOUS   REMARKS.  129 

deep  sympathy  for  thy  sister  in  bonds  ?  Did  it  once' 
ascend  to  God  in  broken  accents  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  captive  ?  Didst  thou  ever  ask  thyself,  what 
the  free  man  of  color  would  think  of  it  ?  Is  it  such 
an  exhibition  of  slavery  and  prejudice,  as  will  call 
down  his  blessing  upon  thy  head?  Hast  thou  thought 
of  these  things  ?  or  carest  thou  not  for  the  blessings 
and  the  prayers  of  these  our  suffering  brethren? 
Consider,  I  entreat,  the  reception  given  to  thy  book 
by  the  apologists  of  slavery.  What  meaneth  that 
loud  acclaim  with  which  they  hail  it  ?  Oh,  listen  and 
weep,  and  let  thy  repentings  be  kindled  together,  and 
speedily  bring  forth,  I  beseech  thee,  fruits  meet  for 
repentance,  and  henceforth  show  thyself  faithful  to 
Christ  and  his  bleeding  representative  the  slave. 

I  greatly  fear  tl?at  thy  book  might  have  been  writ 
ten  just  as  well,  hadst  thou  not  had  the  heart  of  a 
woman.  It  bespeaks  a  superior  intellect,  but  paralyzed 
and  spell-bound  by  the  sorcery  of  a  worldly-minded 
expediency.  Where,  oh  where,  in  its  pages,  are  the 
outpourings  of  a  soul  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of 
the  heinous  crimes  of  our  nation,  and  the  necessity  of 
immediate  repentance?  Farewell!  [Perhaps  on  a 
dying  bed  thou  mayest  vainly  wish  that  '  Miss  Beech- 
er  on  the  Slave  Question  '  might  perish  with  the 
mouldering  hand  which  penned  its  cold  and  heartless 
pages.  But  I  forbear,  and  in  deep  sadness  of  heart, 
but  in  tender  love  though  I  thus  speak,  I  bid  thee  again  f 
Farewell.  Forgive  me,  if  I  have  wronged  thee,  and 
pray  for  her  who  still  feels  like 

Thy  sister  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  sisterhood, 

A.   E.   GRIMKE. 


130  MISCELLANEOUS   MEMARKST. 

P.  S.  Since  preparing  the  foregoing  letters  for  the 
press,  I  have  been  informed  by  a  Bookseller  in  Prov 
idence,  that  some  of  thy  books  had  been  sent  to  him 
to  sell  last  summer,  and  that  one  afternoon  a  number 
of  southerners  entered  his  store  whilst  they  were 
lying  on  the  counter.  An  elderly  lady  took  up  one 
of  them  and  after  turning  over  the  pages  for  some 
time,  she  threw  it  down  and  remarked,  here  is  a  book 
written  by  the  daughter  of  a  northern  dough  face,  to 
apologize  for  our  southern  institutions — but  for  my 
part,  I  have  a  thousand  times  more  respect  for  the 
Abolitionists,  who  openly  denounce  the  system  of 
slavery,  than  for  those  people,  who  in  order  to  please 
us,  cloak  their  real  sentiments  under  such  a  garb  as 
this.  This  southern  lady,  I  have  no  doubt,  expressed 
the  sentiments  of  thousands  of  the.  most  respectable 
slaveholders  in  our  country — and  thus,  they  will  tell 
the  North  in  bitter  reproach  for  their  sinful  subser 
viency,  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  brief  years,  when  in 
terest  no  longer  padlocks  their  lips.  At  present  the 
.  South  feels  that  she  must  at  least  appear  to  thank  he? 
northern  apologists.  A.  E.  G, 


